To receive questions or statements on the business of the
committee from town and parish councils and members of the public.
Minutes:
The Chairman re-confirmed the
rules regarding public participation.
There were no statements or
questions submitted from Town and Parish Councils.
The following public statements
and questions were submitted to the Panel:
Questions raised by David Sidwick:
1)
Could it be explained why from HMICFRS data -
Dorset Police has the lowest percentage of front-line officers of any force yet
other forces have actually had greater percentage reductions in workforce
overall? Does the PCC have his priorities right?
PCC Response
I am somewhat disappointed by this question, as, although a PCC can
influence, this matter is clearly an operational one for a Chief Constable.
However, in this instance, I am content to provide an answer.
90.8% of FTE police officers in Dorset Police are employed in frontline
roles, as at 31 March 2019, which are the latest available data. This compares
to an average of 92.1% in England and Wales. While Dorset Police is in the
lower quartile of forces, it by no means has the lowest proportion of all
forces.
The HMICFRS methodology does not yet account for force collaborations –
making the data somewhat inaccurate. For
example, in Dorset we pay 30% of the costs of staff in Alliance roles – however
for legal reasons a department cannot be jointly ‘hosted’, and so one force
must take the lead. As Dorset Police
hosts alliance functions such as finance and learning and development, this
makes it look like we have a higher investment in support functions, although
the true expenditure is quite different.
It is also worth stressing that Dorset has long been a very lean force.
The Force has recognised appropriate workforce modernisation and utilised
police staff for roles that will provide the best service to the public where
warranted powers are not required – for example Police Staff Investigators.
As part of that modernisation and to reduce demand on the frontline, an
evidence based investment has been made into roles to reduce demand and provide
better service to the public. One example of this is the 25 officers into the
desktop investigation team. This would
show as ‘non visible frontline’ however those 25 officers have been shown over
a two month period to deal with 42% of crime which would otherwise have gone to
the frontline – an excellent return on the investment.
I, like the PCCs of many other smaller forces, have been waiting for
Government to deliver on the much delayed police funding formula review to help
address this imbalance, but as most of us here today will know, this continues
to be pushed into the long grass.
In terms of my role, I am content that my scrutiny of the Chief
Constable allows me to say that I do not believe that the force’s priorities
are wrong. In fact, I am assured, not only that the force actively takes steps
to optimise and keep under continual review the level of frontline policing
resources, but also that HMICFRS have not raised this as a concern, which is
evidenced by Dorset Police’s suite of ‘good’ ratings.
2)
I understand that currently only 20% of Dorset
Police Officers carry tasers. As the threat to their safety has increased
and the Government has provided a fund for forces to use to equip more
officers, how is the PCC holding the Chief Constable to account to ensure that
this funding is properly accessed and what impact would he expect to see in
terms of officers carrying tasers by the end of 2020?”
PCC
Response
I am afraid that this question also
borders on the operational, and again I do not recognise the statistic quoted.
Before I answer, I will refer members
back to the Panel held on 24 September, when I was asked to provide a view on all
officers carrying Tasers. I mentioned that as the national lead for use of
force, and a former police officer who was assaulted multiple times, you would
not be surprised to hear that I am passionate about improving officer safety.
However, as the national lead I must ensure that we balance officer safety with
the proud tradition of policing by consent and that we consider the full range
of options that are available.
I said I had discussed the matter of
a Taser uplift with the Chief, as this is an operational decision, but we would
both like to increase the number of Taser trained officers. However, that does
not mean all officers should carry a Taser, as we know from research that
roughly 80% of officers want to carry, assuming they pass the training, which
of course many don’t.
To answer the question at hand.
Dorset Police currently has around
250 officers that carry Taser – this is a little under 45% of the officers who
the Chief Constable deems suitable to do so. These officers include those in
patrol, neighbourhoods, operational and public disorder units. Whilst the
Government announced in late September that it was providing £10m to forces to
increase the numbers of officers carrying Tasers, this is a competitive
process, and the bid criteria were only made available on 13 January, ahead of
a deadline of 4 February.
The Chief Constable and I are quite
disappointed about the manner in which this grant is being administered. One
might reasonably expect that the Government funding should cover all aspects of
providing for the increase in the number of Taser officers - however, it does
not.
Whilst the HO has confirmed the bid
can cover the cost of the Taser device itself – this does not include any
consumables such as the battery and the cartridge needed to make it
operational. Nor will the bid cover the safety clips, holsters, mounts or
pouches needed to safely carry the devices and spare cartridges. Nor will it
cover the safes, loading boxes or any other secure equipment needed to ensure
the safe storage of the devices when not in use. Nor will it cover the
associated software licensing costs, training costs or administrative costs of
providing the training, and it will certainly not cover the costs of paying
overtime to allow officers to be abstracted from the frontline for training.
Put simply our initial estimate was
that for every £1 that we might receive from this grant, it would cost Dorset
Police around £6 in direct costs. Through a line-by-line examination of this
budget, and both the Chief Constable and I agreeing to carry some risk in
respect of future budgets, we have managed to reduce this to £3 for every £1 of
grant.
Despite the significant costs to
Dorset Police, both the Chief Constable and I are determined to maximise the
funds available to Dorset though this grant.
Whilst the final funding is of course a matter for Government, I can
confirm that our bid – if fully funded – would allow every operational
frontline officer who wanted to carry a Taser, and who passed the training, to
do so.