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How accountable are the police in the UK? Critically discuss how two of the agencies or individual concerned oversee the police.

What is Accountability?

In the current scenario, the police department plays an important role, as it is one of the bodies that is expected to work in favor of citizens. This is the reason for which the individuals of society expect best results out of the services of the police. In a democratic society where the whole law system is regulated by defined authorities and government, it is required to be responsible and accountable on the part of the police. Now the query is to whom police are accountable. In order to answer the query, this is to be stated that the same is accountable to private parties including individuals, government, and other agencies, which are responsible to oversee the functions of the police department (Newburn, 2012). The police are accountable as well as answerable to each individual. For a country like the UK where there is a constitutional monarchy, which means that it is a democratic country but king and queen also exist there. Judiciary is responsible to check that whether the constitutional provisions and guidelines being properly followed or not, Further, all of the important decisions made or taken by the government are required to be check by the majesty as a final approval.

In this paper, the focus will be made on police accountability and different governing bodies and agencies that oversee the whole workings of the police department in the UK. Further, the discussion will also include the various fields of accountability, which includes financial, personal and operation field. The lead objective of this paper is to develop an understanding of the topic of police accountability. Being, an important part of the society and the law administrative system, the police is required to be accountable. In the presented report, the significance of police accountability is also mentioned.

Before moving ahead on the discussion about police accountability of police, this is necessary to understand that what the meaning of accountability is. In a true sense, accountability can be understood as an obligation of an organization or an individual to account for it is acts, accept the liability for the same and to disclose and present the results in an open and transparent manner (Businessdictionary.com, 2018). When it comes to police accountability, this is to mention that it is a concept, which puts an obligation on the police to be responsible for their doings, individually as well as organizationally. This is the reason that the police always must keep themselves for an inquiry about the reasoning of their doings. The reason behind making police accountable is to control the unnecessary use of powers by them. Imagine a situation where the police are not liable for their acts, the same is not required to provide justification that why the same has done a particular task. In such a situation, it is the possibility that police can use it is a force in an unethical manner and for the personal interest. The significance of Police accountability is further detailed in the following section:-

The Significance of Police Accountability

The main feature of the police accountability is to check that who regulates the police. To whom they are accountable (Compass.port.ac.uk, 2018). The concept of police accountability is necessary in order to ensure that police are using their policing services in a fair, equal, and justified manner.  In order to review the complex nature of the subjective accountability in the jurisdiction of UK, this is necessary to know the terrain of policing in all three different jurisdictions. Before moving ahead, it should be clear in the mind of readers that what is referred to as the police of the UK in the paper. The police of the United Kingdom is not a unitary body as the national police forces, which presents in many of the nations of across globe. For instance:- In England and Wales, there are 43 forces which undertake the policing activities based on geographical area. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (also known as PSNI) is there in Northern Ireland. Apart from these official forces, some non-home office forces are also there in the UK. These forces have specialized remit. Following are some the examples of these forces:-

  • British Transport Police (BTP)
  • the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary (UKAEA)
  • the Ministry of Defense Police (MOD)

This is the reason that while referring to police, people often think that there is only a single entity, which is not correct. Police accountability sometimes considers as a hurdle in the free exercise of the right by a police officer. Therefore, in the year 1980, it becomes a political issue in England and Wales. However, the commentator has reviewed and noted the existence of the same necessary for the following reasons:-

  1. Financial stewardship: - Police use public resources in their workings and actions and therefore the same is required to be accountable.
  2. Police legitimacy: - Accountability helps police by increasing and supporting legitimacy. In order to achieve the trust and active co-operation, police often strive for legitimacy, especially in democratic states (Reiner, 2010).
  3. Control over actions:- To regulate the behavior of the police and to prevent the unwarranted actions of the same, there is a huge requirement of police accountability and the same is significant for this reason.

From where the powers of police arrive? To answer this question this is to be stated that legislation is there which defines the powers of the police. However, at many times, these legislations are used to be interpreted in a different manner by judges while considering and granting decisions in many of the cases. In addition to this, the executive body can issue the guidelines on the procedure. When it comes to the policies, most of the powers are available with ministers who are the major servants of the crown. Police serve it is services not on a state level but at a central level and hence the system of police accountability is complex in comparison to other subordinates of the crown.

It is a system of accountability by which the 43 police forces of England and Wales are used to be held accountable (Publications.parliament.uk, 2018a). The subjective system distributes the liability among three of the following

  • The home office
  • The local police authority
  • The chief constable of the force

Structure and States of Police Accountability in the UK

The Home Secretary is the responsible person who helps parliament in proving accountability under the tripartite system by setting out key priorities. It also helps to provide accountability to the local population via local police authorities. By the current arrangement, the autonomy of chief constable is limited as it has been clear that police officers are the public servant and therefore cannot be a subject matter of political discussion. One can better understand the tripartite system by looking after below picture

                                                         

                                                                         (Mawby and Wright, 2005)

Prior to the Police Act 1964, Scotland already had this system not similar to Wales and England. In this system, the local authority was playing the role of local police authority. Nevertheless, as the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 is the primary legislation, hence the reforms of England and Wales have followed the same pattern in Scotland. Joint police boards and police authorities are the two bodies that set a budget for the police and ensure the best outcomes out of the same for the public. Moving the focus towards Northern Ireland, policing board plays the role of police authority and help Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) by meeting with the standards stated under Human Rights Act 1998.

In conjunction with the tripartite system, another important legislation of police is The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Similar to the tripartite system, this act also defines the responsibly of the police. The act is mainly focused on the requirements that to be followed by a police officer while dealing with a criminal case. Criminal justice system believes that suspects of the case that are apprehended by the police officers must have a right of representations. The requirements work on a principle, according to which a whole case can fail in the cases where proper rules and law requirements have not been followed. In this scenario, accountability of the police comes into the light, as police officers are required to consider the provisions of this act while dealing with the suspects of the cases.

Six inspectors with regional responsibilities are there. In addition to them, three assistant inspectors who are specialized in diversity and race-related issues are also there. Inspectors carry out their work with the assistance of office staffs. The role of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) laid out in the Police Acts (1994 and 1996). HMIC conduct the inspection of the geographic basic commands units and forces. In conjunction with this, HMIC also conducts the inspections, which focuses on the specific sectors of policing such as diversity, visibility and reassurance, and corruption. These are a few examples and the inspection area of HMIC is not limited to the same. The lead role of the HMIC is to promote the effectiveness of the policing in Northern Ireland, England and Wales (Justiceinspectorates.gov.uk, 2018)

The Tripartite System

This is an independent body, which has been established in the year 1982 (Alcock, 2014). Police of England and Wales firstly been scrutinized in the year 1988 by this commission. As the name implies the lead task of the commission is to conduct audits. In the year 1988, this commission has conducted an audit on budgets allocation and financing of police funding. Later on the same made it focus on different matters such as patrol work, operational matters, and crime management. According to the noting of one of the retired chief constable, twenty-seven audit reports have been published in during the period starts from the year 1997 to1999. These reports have made more than three hundred recommendations. The lead objective behind the development of this commission is to ensure that police is using funds of the public for a just and proper purpose and in this manner; their personal interest is not conflicting with the interest of the nation (Publications.parliament.uk, 2018b).

The home office has developed this program in consultation with the Association of Police Authorities and Association of Police Authorities in the year 2004 (Brain, 2010). The program is also known as PPAF. The program has provided some performance measure to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the working of the police. In this manner, these measures do not only held individual forces accountable but also evaluate their performance in comparison to other police forces. According to the belief of Home office, PPAF not only measures the operational effectiveness of police officers but also measures the overall confidence and trust in police. A baseline assessment has been released by HMIC in the year 2004 which has become a topic of debate. The reason behind the debate was the comparative performance of different police forces. In the debate, the lead question to discuss was that whether the chief constable who has been rated as poor would get dismissed. It has been proven an effective tool of scrutiny of police by the public. This ensures the accountability of police in the UK in an effective manner.

The objective of this program was somewhere similar to the objective of The Audit Commission. In the year 1980, financial management initiative of the public sector has been implied to police services by the government. Under this program, the district auditors have the power to check and make an audit on the financials of public authorities that also includes police. In addition to this, the national audit officer has produced reports on the subject “value for money”. Apart from this, the development of Police and Magistrates Courts Act 1994 reduced the budgeting of police forces to a significant level. Since the enactment of this act, now all the local police authorities are used to receive cash limited grant instead of the funding from council tax, revenue support grant and non-domestic rates.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)

In terms of organizational accountability, a systematic hierarchal structure is required to render a disciplined and responsible service (Walsh and Conway, 2011). In the UK context, an apparent military structure has been devised in the system. It is significant to note that the police officers are required to follow the code of conduct as prescribed. The code of conduct deals with various matters for the officers. Some of them are the disreputable conduct on part of officers, racially discriminatory behavior, not following up the orders, and others. The matters like these are subject to the reprimands, penalties, and fines and are regarded as punishable offenses. These are subject to the internal investigation and disciplinary hearings, followed by the judgments to be adhered to. It must be noted that the breach of the code of conduct may also result in criminal or civil offenses. Thus, it can be stated that the structure is such to promote accountability on the part of the officers.

As stated above, the disciplinary hearings in respect of the officers are initiated with the internal investigations. These investigations are done by the police forces and the Home Office guides the same. The patterns of the complaints are examined and monitor the conduct of the officers. Thus, the aim of the system can be stated to establish trust and confidence among the public. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (ICCP) as introduced in the year 2004 is a significant move towards the same. As the governing body is a separate public body, possess an independent investigation team, and the act setting out its role and responsibilities, are few of the features on the basis of which the accountability is claimed.

The Police Act 1997 resulted into the formation of the National Crime Squad (NCS). The tripartite structure governs the accountability for the operations of the territorial police forces. The annual service plan sets out the objectives and performance targets of the officers. The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act prescribe the accountability criteria for the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The Home Secretary decides the overall policies and priorities. The agency is required to report to the three ministers namely the Scottish First Minister, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in addition to the Home Secretary. This is because of the role of the agency in the areas of then Northern Ireland and Scotland. The report is further forwarded to the Parliament to report on accountability and performance of the agency as a whole.

Thus, the above segment describes the comprehensive and detailed system of accountability for the police officers and various agencies in the UK. Various mechanisms have been laid down to enable the transparent, responsible, and disciplined conduct of the officers and the agencies controlling them.

However, it must be noted that there exist a number of issues in the system of accountability in the UK. The following segment describes the same.

One of the most debatable problems in the UK Police accountability system is the separation of the powers and the balance of the same (Shane, 2010). The role of the center in the system has been viewed as detrimental to the powers of the local democratic agency. This shift has been further regarded as the lack of the involvement of the local communities in the policing. Thus, to build the trust and confidence of the public, especially among the ethnic minority communities is a challenge in terms of the distribution of the power.

Another major issue in the system of accountability is the actual existence of independence in the various operations. The lack of the confidence of the minority communities among the system has called for even more clear policies as were recently emphasized and set out in IPCC. Thus, the independence among the agencies is still an issue in terms of accountability.

There have been various incidents over the years, and the resulting human rights issues that surround the system of accountability for Police in the UK. Some of the incidents are the manner of investigation of deaths occurred while in police custody, police shooting the public in various unlawful circumstances, the questions based on the intensity of rigor in punishments and many more ((Murphy, Eckersley, and Ferry, 2016). Thus, human rights issues like above continue to pose concerns against the system of accountability.

Conclusion

It has been analyzed that the accountability of the police in the UK has been diversified into various groups and agencies. In the presented paper, the significance of police accountability in the UK has been discussed. Further, in conjunction with this, many kinds of legislation have been discussed which make sure the accountability of police in the UK. Apart from the operational audits, the provisions related to financial audits are also there. To conclude the issue involved i.e. checking of the accountability level of UK police, this is to be stated that the government placed many of the efforts to ensure the accountability of the police. Further, enough authorities are there to check the operational, legal, personal, and financial performance of the police. Individuals, authorities, and government have enough liberty to held the police officer accountable for their workings. Therefore, in conclusion, this would not be wrongful to state that police in the UK is enough responsible because of the existence of various legislations, policies and reporting model.

References

Alcock, P. (2014) Social Policy in Britain (4th ed.). NY: Macmillan International Higher Education.

Brain, T. (2010) A History of Policing in England and Wales from 1974: A Turbulent Journey. New York: OUP Oxford

Businessdictionary.com. (2018) Accountability. [online] Available from: https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/accountability.html [Accessed on 18/12/2018]

Compass.port.ac.uk (2018) What is Police Accountability and Governance? [online] Available from: https://compass.port.ac.uk/UoP/file/3516db1d-5985-4365-8cc4-13f8c6c9a83c/1/Police%20Powers%20and%20Accountability_IMSLRN.zip/page_02.htm [Accessed on 18/12/2018]

Criminal Evidence Act 1984

Human Rights Act 1998

Justiceinspectorates.gov.uk. (2018) HMIC. [online] Available from: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/cjji/about-cjji/about-the-justice-inspectorates/hmic/ [Accessed on 18/12/2018]

Mawby, R and Wright, A. (2005) Police Accountability in the United Kingdom. [online] Available from: https://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/police/res_mat/police_accountability_in_uk.pdf

Murphy, P., Eckersley, P. and Ferry, L. (2016) Accountability and transparency: Police forces in England and Wales. Public Policy and Administration, 32(3), pp. 197-213.

Newburn, T. (2012)  Handbook of Policin (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

Police (Scotland) Act 1967

Police Act 1964

Police Act 1997

Police Acts (1994 and 1996)

Police and Magistrates Courts Act 1994

Publications.parliament.uk. (2018) Structures. [online] Available from: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmhaff/364/36409.htm [Accessed on 18/12/2018]

Reiner, R. (2010) The Politics of the Police. New York: OUP Oxford,.

Shane, J. M. (2010) Performance management in police agencies: a conceptual framework. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 33(1), pp. 6-29.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984

Walsh, D. P. and Conway, V. (2011) Police governance and accountability: overview of current issues. Crime, Law and Social Change, 55(2-3), pp. 61-86.

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