Transforming policing for 2020

National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Chair, Sara Thornton said:

“The next few years will be tough for policing.  By the end of this next spending review the police budget is likely to have further reduced by 25 per cent.  There is a shift in the work that the police are doing – more crime is being committed in private spaces or the digital world than on the streets, substantial demand comes from tracing missing people and managing dangerous offenders in our communities and chiefs have moved resources to deal with increases in complex, high-risk crime like sexual offences, cybercrime and terrorism.  The police will continue to protect and serve the public but it will have to be done differently.

“The National Debate Advisory Group’s report ‘Reshaping Policing for the Public’ is a useful contribution to the debate about what the police service should look like in 2020 and beyond, and the transformation needed to get us there. 

“These are complex issues but there is broad agreement among chief constables that we need to be innovative to meet the challenges we face, changes are required to how policing is structured and our focus must be on prevention, working alongside other services.

“The NPCC and the College of Policing intend to have agreed key reforms and the plan to deliver them by the end of this year, working with the Government and others with a stake in the issue.  We will then have an open, honest conversation with the public about the future.”

The report, the covering letter to the Home Secretary and the NPCC response can be found here.