Managing the Police

Abstract

For the police service, the period 1979 to1987 was one of mixed blessings. Lauded by Mrs Thatcher as a central plank in her government’s ’law and order’ strategy in the early years, the service was to be ultimately castigated by senior Conservative ministers for letting them down on the crime problem (Baker, 1992). The period demonstrated how difficult it is to take policing out of politics, particularly with a government which moved away from mainstream consensus policy. The increasingly radical programmes adopted by the Conservative government were ultimately to lead to a direct confrontation with the police service upon which it had earlier depended so heavily. But if the Conservative government’s political programme inevitably engulfed the police service, it was also the case that management reforms encouraged across the public sector would also impact upon the police. Management reforms, initiated as early as 1983, have now comprehensively embraced the police service. This is because Audit Commission reports, along with statutory reform, have required the police to respond positively to new managerial imperatives. The application of performance measures is now accepted as commonplace in the police service, while senior officers now grapple with costing outputs and outcomes of police activity. If in the past the police service was ’administered’ rather than managed, this has changed and it is increasingly appropriate to refer to police management as a meaningful activity.

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