ACPO to be wound up

Greymaster

Well-Known Member
The Chief Constable's Council have voted to wind up ACPO and replace it with a new body hosted by the Met Police but independent of it. The private limited company which was ACPO will be wound up.

http://www.acpo.presscentre.com/Press-Releases/Update-on-ACPO-future-308.aspx

No precise details yet on funding, but no more ACPO selling information on police data bases to business for profit, no more providing information on FAC/SGC holders to "charities" such as RSPCA. Unlike ACPO, the new NPCC should fall within the remit of the FOI Act.

The abolition of ACPO follows an initiative of the Police and Crime Commissioners which instituted a review of ACPO.

http://apccs.police.uk/press_release/independent-review-of-the-association-of-chief-police-officers/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2507604/Association-Chief-Police-Officers-abolished.html
 
I would be very careful what you wish for. PCC's are political appointments, and whilst there is some caviar amongst the numbers most are "fish and chips" not least as many were voted in due to 'record breaking' low turnouts.
Furthermore, they get to employ "their mates" (who are not voted in..) - have a search through the press...
The abolition of ACPO is like taking the glue out of MDF; it will not take long for the structure it is meant to hold together fall apart....
 
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R-o-S,

Isn't that the "we can't shoot Hitler in case someone worse takes over" argument?

True, Hitler's incompetence was an asset to the allies, but I'd rather have an incompetent/corrupt PCC I could vote out than an incompetent/corrupt, and dictatorial, ACPO I can't.

Mind you, I only have an outside view of these things.

The image of the police service as MDF is a chilling one though.
 
R-o-S,

Isn't that the "we can't shoot Hitler in case someone worse takes over" argument?
Not so much, more the "If you remove Saddam Hussain this is what you are left with" argument.
I'll let your noble mind decide if that is the same thing or not! :D

From my perspective, subjective as it is, ACPO would, and have, stood up to politicians over firearms legislation but am not so sure PCCs would or will.
Furthermore, you only really get to vote PCCs in or out if you vote at all...it seems the vast majority of us did not vote them in...but we cannot vote them out...they just get replaced by the one that gets voted in.... Bordering on status quo on the voting in/out front?
I suppose it is early days for PCCs. On the plus side, as voter turnout was so low, there is an opportunity for shooters to concentrate their efforts in a particularly rural county and vote en masse for their own candidate, with a better chance of political victory.
 
I would be very careful what you wish for. PCC's are political appointments, and whilst there is some caviar amongst the numbers most are "fish and chips" not least as many were voted in due to 'record breaking' low turnouts.
Furthermore, they get to employ "their mates" (who are not voted in..) - have a search through the press...
The abolition of ACPO is like taking the glue out of MDF; it will not take long for the structure it is meant to hold together fall apart....

Not necessarily so, the PCC in our area is an independent who I voted for because he was saying the right things as far as I was concerned. He has stood up and shown that he is certainly his own man so far, I just hope that this continues.
Shortly after his appointment he dismissed the Chief Constable because as far as he was concerned she was cooking the books by concentrating on statistics and not addressing the real issues. He took a lot of flack for this from the regular politicians but he stood his ground. He also re-opened several police stations that the CC had closed and continues to make the police more accessible to the general public. So far it looks like I voted for the right guy I just hope that he continues in the same vein and that I have not been duped.

Incidentally I believe I have met the chap once previously when as a Superintendent he investigated a formal complaint alleging neglect of duty I made against the officer in charge of the firearms department for not processing my renewal in a timely fashion. If it is the same chap he was very professional and true to his word in sorting the matter out within hours when I had failed through polite and more conventional means to sort it for the previous 6 months.
 
8X57 - good to hear positive view of your local PCC, although he is a political appointee (in so much as he was voted in) albeit independent without alignment to a political party. Like you say, he was "..saying the right things...."and hope that this continues".

Still think it is early days for PCCs and certainly they are only just getting to grips with the realities of funding shortfalls, which is probably why stations were closed in the first place amongst other reductions such as force numbers.

Am going to to see how things evolve as PCC's in themselves are quite an expensive overhead on top of CC's and folk at the Home Office who already look after/manage a lot of this stuff. I wonder just how much devolution PCCs want versus what they'll end up with.
 
The most significant power that the PCC's have is to dismiss the CC, which has already been used. Blunkett, when Home Secretary found that he had no power to dismiss the CC of Humberside, Colin Westwood after his forces disgraceful incompetence over Ian Huntley and his murder of Holly and Jessica. There were very vociferous calls for his dismissal but Blunkett was powerless, while Westwood had the support of his local Police Authority chairman. Westwood declared that he would not stand down because in his opinion having had his failings pointed out to him, he was in the best position to do fix things.

Ultimately a deal was done and he retired early.

However, the HO now finds that it omitted to build in a "recall" feature to allow PCC's to be recalled and subject to re-election, i.e. a removal process, so you get the PCC of South Yorkshire clinging on for months in the wake of the Rotherham sex abuse scandal, who eventually stood down.
 
WOT no more tea and tiffin while screwing us over !!! bet the old brushes will still be part of the gang .
 
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