A rare chance to shape the next 50 years - let's be bold

Our current Chair, Gavin Stephens, came to post in 2023 to unite police leaders behind an ambitious programme to reform policing. Gavin gives his honest reflections on the change in perspective from being the chief of a police force to heading up national policing at the NPCC, as well as how he plans to deliver police reform.

What were the biggest challenges in your time at the NPCC?

I’m just two years into tenure and think there are two categories of challenge. Firstly, the strategic ones, such as making a strong case for the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, whilst not knowing if you can fund the core team within the NPCC the following year.  There is always an issue of balancing the bigger picture with practical realities, across a broad range of topics, from pay reform to keeping up with Artificial Intelligence.

Secondly, the operational challenges, and the most prominent was in the early weeks of the new government when we saw the worst violent disorder on our streets for over a decade, this time in the age of social media and mis/dis-information.  That was an acute challenge of mobilisation of public order, community engagement, criminal justice, intelligence and communications.  It forged working relationships with a new government very quickly.

How did policing and the NPCC change over your tenure?

In managing the transition of governments there has been an inevitable shift from the shorter-term priorities of government in its final months, to the bigger picture and ambition of new office. This is also set against a changing international security position and the NPCC has a broad membership,  including overseas territories, who sometimes see these changes ahead of time. 

There is one stand out risk that I was so much less sighted on as a force chief and that is the rapidly changing nature of the cyber threat. The leadership skill set needed for this is both daunting and fascinating and indicative of the world in which we now live.

Is there a standout moment from your time at NPCC?

No two weeks are the same, and professionally there are a huge range of topics that really test you, but it is a personal moment that really stands out.  At the end of the weeks of violent disorder I, and Chief Constable Harrington, received a personal call from The King to pass on his thanks to UK policing.  Sitting in the office with my mobile balanced on speakerphone on top of my mug of tea, talking to His Majesty, is not something I’d ever envisage, but then policing is full of surprises.

How should the NPCC and policing change in the next 10 years? 

I passionately believe that NPCC members have a hugely influential role in setting out a deliberate design for policing over the next decade.  We are working in a vocation with very proud historical roots and values, but it has its structure and organisation formed by a Royal Commission that sat in the early 1960s.  Policing does incredible work every minute of every day, but we aren’t supporting our teams to succeed against rapidly developing threats to community safety and security in the way that we are organised.

We have a once in a generation chance to get set up well for the next 50 years and we must be bold.  There have been so many reports and so many attempts to change policing for the better, but most have faltered along the way.  To succeed in the future we need much stronger consistency of operational excellence, especially on the things that matter most to our communities.  To be able to do that we need a workforce that is not just focused on officer numbers, but on the skills and capabilities for the future, and the huge value brought by police staff, in turn supported by the very best available science, technology and equipment.  This will require leaders to work much more collaboratively and the NPCC has a central role in that as we work towards a reformed police service.