Police Governance and Accountability

Question 1

Describe the importance of police governance and accountability

Answer 1

Through their legal powers (capacity for decisive action) the police are simultaneously:
A mechanism for protecting the rights and liberties of citizens
A potential threat to those same rights and liberties

Legality: police actions need to be within the law
Consent of the community: gives public confidence in police

Question 2

Describe issues in police governance and accountability

Answer 2

Individual and organisational accountability: conceptually distinct, but linked in practice
Individual: holding the individual officer to account for actions or omissions (both internal and external mechanisms)
Organisational: holding the organisation to account for policies, priorities, expenditure etc.
A burred distinction “since the behaviour of individual police agents is influenced by broader organisational policies and practices, and vice versa” (Jones, 2008: 694)

Constabulary independence: A constitutional principle to protect the police from interference from political masters

Question 3

Describe the key institutions in the landscape of police governance and accountability

Answer 3

The police: internal processes (case monitoring; management; performance review)
Criminal justice process: prosecution (Crown Office in Scotland); courts and judiciary
Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC): complaints; misconduct; reviews of deaths in custody
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) and Audit Scotland: inspection (general and thematic), auditing, Best Value and Improvement
Scottish Police Authority (SPA): holding chief officer to account; maintaining Police Scotland; promote policing principles
Scottish Ministers and the Justice Committee
Local Scrutiny Committees: local government right to be consulted

Question 4

Describe the principles used to measure police governance

Answer 4

Not all principles are equal, some more important
Equity: everyone receives the same standard of policing and policing isn’t privatised
Delivery of service - to maintain legitimacy the police must deliver
Responsiveness - respond to public need
Distribution of power
Information - police must provide accounts and figures to be accountable

Question 5

Describe the different approaches to police accountability in England and Scotland

Answer 5

England: towards localism, crime reduction, US influence
Scotland: towards centralism, community wellbeing, Northern Europe influence