‘Nepotism and bias’ rife in England and Wales police leadership, report finds | Police

Police leadership in England and Wales is facing a problem of “nepotism and bias” and too many chiefs have lost focus on tackling crime, a government-backed report has found.

The inquiry, co-chaired by former home secretary David Blunkett, found a reset was needed at all levels, with scores of senior civil servants facing misconduct investigations.

The report, published on Monday, covers 43 forces in England and Wales and finds a “postcode lottery” in how well the public are served.

The report said: “We also identified systemic reasons for concerns about consistency, talent and leadership culture across the service.

“Simply put, leadership in policing is not consistently of a high enough standard to provide the public with the trust and confidence to receive the service they deserve.”

Blunkett told the Guardian the police service was not good enough and some findings were “surprisingly” poor.

The report finds that leaders are “not sufficiently focused on delivering results for the public” as is the key goal of reducing crime.

Blunkett said: “Two contradictory things can be true at the same time. You can have outstanding leadership and you can have deep-seated and deeply worrying behaviour.”

Nick Herbert, president of the Police College and co-chair of the inquiry, told the Guardian: “Some forces are very good but some have lost focus on reducing crime.”

The report said a series of scandals involving police chiefs showed the need for reform. One of them is former Northamptonshire chief constable Nick Adderley, who was sacked after it was revealed he had lied on his CV. He was charged with fraud and abuse of office in public office.

The report said there have been 78 investigations into police chiefs since 2018, from the deputy chief constable onwards: “The Independent Police Conduct Office tells us that common themes in its investigations include nepotism, favouritism, sexual abuse of power and corruption.

“Eight police chiefs or former police chiefs are either currently under investigation or awaiting disciplinary proceedings.”

The report finds that while regular frontline officers know they are poorly managed, “only 13% of police officers and 17% of sergeants” admit they work in a “well-managed and managed organisation”.

Nepotism in promotions was one of the main themes among the findings: “In policing, talent identification and promotion decisions are often shaped by the image of the leaders responsible for them at the local level.

“This has created fertile ground for favoritism and prejudice that will impact progress and development.”

One officer told the report: “This is very clearly nepotism. It works for boys and girls who mate with the right people.”

The report adds: “Professional culture was felt to be broken in specific, systemic ways…the gap between stated values ​​and lived experiences is consistently identified and manifests as favouritism, blame cultures, command and control behaviour, and an unwillingness to challenge inappropriate behaviour.”

The 27 recommendations include a new national police leadership academy, a fast track for future leaders and more money for leadership training; Approximately 4 million pounds are currently spent for a service that costs 19 billion pounds annually.