The PSNI's new Chief Constable today warned that his officers were being stifled by red tape and excessive bureaucracy.
Matt Baggott chose his first appearance before the NI Policing Board to stress the need to challenge the form-filling culture which diverted police men and women from helping communities on the front line.
Sir Hugh Orde’s successor said there was a tendency within modern policing to judge performance by the amount of paperwork officers produced.
“I think bureaucracy can be a very helpful comfort blanket,” said the former Leicestershire chief. “You can show success by filling in a form well, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are doing the things that matter.”
His assessment comes only weeks after a leaked internal report on the PSNI claimed that the service is being choked with forms and paperwork, with 61 per cent of officers’ time spent inside stations rather than on the streets.
The Strategic Review 2009 document said a bureaucratic “compliance-based culture” within the PSNI had blunted its ability to serve the public
Warning of the “tyranny of too much red tape”, Mr Baggott told board members he would strive to give his officers more time and discretion to do their job.
He said some level of bureaucracy was necessary to make the service accountable, but added that when it became pervasive it could hinder the police. “When the bureaucracy takes you away from having the space and the time to deal with victims appropriately then the bureaucracy must be wrong,” he said.
Last night it emerged that the Northern Ireland Office has agreed to give the PSNI new powers to deal with low level crime without the need for extensive paperwork. Officers are being given the authority to issue on the spot fines and cautions for offences such as drunk and disorderly behaviour, vandalism and shoplifting. At present the police have to prepare a file for the Public Prosecution Service for each crime they investigate.
It is hoped the new measures will see officers spending less time behind desks and more out on the beat. They should also improve the PSNI’s clearance rates for dealing with offences. Senior police chiefs had long been lobbying for the powers currently available to other forces across the UK.
During the two-hour meeting at board headquarters in Belfast today, Mr Baggott again addressed the serious danger posed by dissident republican terrorists.
However, while he acknowledged the threat was high, he made clear he would not allow the issue to sidetrack him from dealing with other policing priorities, such as tackling dangerous driving and making communities safer.
The 50-year-old father-of-three has arrived in the job at a time when downward crime rates have suddenly been jolting upward again. The latest six monthly statistical bulletin provided stark evidence of that as it was presented to board members.
Headline figures show a 4.2 per cent rise in overall crime compared to the same period last year, with a significant 21.9 per cent spike in the most serious types of violent crime, such as murder, attempted murder, wounding and GBH. Burglaries and other theft offences are also up.
Road fatalities are also on the increase on last year, with 91 people having lost their lives so far this year, 16 more than at the same stage in 2008.