ACPO comment following Lords committee debate on the Police and Social Responsibility Bill

ACPO President Sir Hugh Orde said:

“We remain very clear that the way in which Chief Constables are held to account is quite properly a matter for the Government and Parliament to decide. As the senior leaders of the service our position remains that we wish to achieve absolute clarity on how any future system will work, in order that there be a shared understanding of how chiefs can continue to deliver impartial and balanced policing in the British model, protecting the public by dealing with local crime at one end up to national and international threats at the other.

“Within the model proposed by the Government, the protocol published this week is critical to clearly setting out the respective roles of Chief Constables and Policing and Crime Commissioners. We are considering the protocol carefully and will continue to offer a professional view to help develop points which remain to be addressed, including the Strategic Policing Requirement which we have yet to see published, and the process of appointment and dismissal of Chief Constables. Our aim is to ensure that reforms to local accountability are achieved while protecting the impartiality and operational independence of the service, which is vital to the police service and the public we serve.”

For more information please contact:

ACPO Press Office
Association of Chief Police Officers
e: press.office@acpo.pnn.police.uk