DOES Essex Police have enough officers? Will compulsory severance be an option for the force? Are police officers properly paid?<\/p>\n
EssexFedFocus spoke to chief constable Stephen Kavanagh to answer these questions and more.<\/p>\n
Click here to see the second part of the exclusive interview.<\/p>\n
Essex Police now has some 3,300 officers. How low can that go\u2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n When I have been out on patrol [I have seen] officers having to go back to stations to complete forms, make phone calls, having to use their own smartphones to get Sat Nav advice. The failure to provide meaningful MDTs and the failure to use ANPR, we have been hamstringing our officers the whole time. I am absolutely clear \u2013 once an officer comes on duty, if they are response and have got the MDT working. They get out and they don\u2019t come back unless they have got prisoner. This constantly coming back to the station for a cup of tea or a phone call \u2013 we should be equipping them to get out there and getting those calls down and meeting community needs. It\u2019s productivity I think we have got to get better at. Not just introducing technology but using that to get the sergeants and inspectors to challenge who is not taking the call recently, who is showing themselves unavailable and why. When you see us using ineffective processing, like having to go back to the station all the time, see our level of sickness compared to other forces [at around 12 days per officer], there is going to be a better way of operating. So whether or not it is 3,000, 2900 or 3,200 \u2013 I don\u2019t know. But we will go to the demand profile but we will go to the Police and Crime Commissioner if we haven\u2019t got enough and see this is the scale of the risk and the challenge we are facing.<\/p>\n There has been much in the media locally and nationally about police officers and police cars acting as ambulances. Will you support an officer if the worst happened while he or she was acting as an ambulance?<\/strong><\/p>\n I have made myself really clear on this. The primary purpose of policing is to keep people safe. If you are standing at a roadside with somebody who has been stabbed, has had a heart attack, who has been in a serious accident and is deteriorating, and there is no ambulance available, humanity would demand that you get that person to hospital as quick as you can. When officers act in good faith, they will always get my support. That includes challenging the Independent Police Complaints Commission\u2019s interpretation of that. What it also requires us to do \u2013 and what we have done in the [last month] \u2013 is get the ambulance service in to account for why they are in the position they are in and to see how they are working to improve their position. They are recruiting. And they are changing their systems to improve their demand management but that is going to take months. So in the meantime I need to support my officers in doing the right thing.<\/p>\n Essex Police Federation chairman Mark Smith has said that in the future: \u201cThe reality is that we have got to decide to not do certain things. And having officers on every high street might be one of the things that in the future we can\u2019t do.\u201d Do you agree with that assessment?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think it could easily get to a stage\u2026 You look at some forces that have turned around and said they are not going to do neighbourhood policing. We have already turned around and said we are not going to do mounted [policing]. I think there is a distinct possibility that we will have to say we are either not going to do it \u2013 or we are not going to do it in the way that we do it now. If we use technology right, there is the opportunity for people to either report online or have a video link to someone so we don\u2019t need to go unless there are opportunities or investigative leads we need to go after. Whether or not we are going to walk away from High Streets, I think that would be a dark day for policing. One of the principles I am signed up to is that we need to deliver policing that is based in neighbourhoods. Whatever we do, we must endeavour to keep as much a connection to local communities as possible. When we walk away from that local connectivity, we do so at our peril.<\/p>\n What is your view on compulsory severance for police officers? Do you see a time \u2013 if it is introduced \u2013 when you might use it?<\/strong><\/p>\n I understand the need for us to consider every eventuality. I also recognise what we might have to deal with at the tail end of Comprehensive Spending Review 2. We are almost going to have to deliver the same savings we have already delivered. There are some big decisions to be made. Do I ever want to us it? No. Can I rule out ever using it? No I can\u2019t. I see it as an absolute emergency option that should be kept in a glass case and broken in case of emergency.<\/p>\n How do you as the force\u2019s leader improve police officer morale?<\/strong><\/p>\n As a force, we need to recognise what is in our control and what we do well. I have been to a number of units now \u2013 there is almost a stock expression \u201cI could do with more resources chief but my job is to do the best with what you give me.\u201d What we can\u2019t do is make ourselves victims. What we can do is continue to talk to each other and continue to make the connections we have started to. As we go into the next stage of change, what we can do is ensure people have got a voice. That does not always mean people will always get what they want but at least if they can express what their concerns and desires are, as we make those decisions they will feel they are part of something. I don\u2019t think morale is rock bottom \u2013 I am not suggesting morale is good either. What I am suggesting is people are feeling more part of a team and they haven\u2019t done \u2013 I need to build on that.<\/p>\n Are police officers on the front line paid enough for the job that they do?<\/strong><\/p>\n If it was in my gift \u2013 and it was affordable \u2013 I think they deserve to be paid more. What we need to do is make sure that pay and conditions do not get to a stage where we end up back into the dark days of the 1970s where officers act in inappropriate or corrupt ways to try and supplement their income. That is a real worry for me having done corruption work. We need the right relationship with the Federation and with Occupational Health where if people find themselves in financial difficulties they can come in and talk about it. I think [police pay] is at the lower end of what it should be.<\/p>\n What would you say to people who say you are paid too much [reportedly a \u00a3192,000 a year salary] compared to people on the shop floor?<\/strong><\/p>\n The helpful thing with my package [compared to other chief constables across the country] is that I get my salary up front and everything else I pay for, so there is a clarity around what I do and I don\u2019t get. Having done 28 and a half years of operational policing, the first 9 years as a PC and DC, I have worked my way through, I am comfortable with taking on risk and the requirements and responsibility of managing a big complex county like Essex and I won\u2019t apologise either as there is clarity about what I do earn and clarity about accountability and the new complex world in which chief constables do work. But that doesn\u2019t mean I am going to stop supporting and trying get the best I can for my officers and staff.<\/p>\n What would be your message to Essex Police officers?<\/strong><\/p>\n What they do on a day to day basis \u2013 keeping people safe \u2013 is appreciated. It is the front line and backbone of policing. And whilst I am chief, they will be at the centre of everything we do.<\/p>\n Are you enjoying the job?<\/strong><\/p>\n I am loving it. It was the right decision for me personally \u2013 and I hope it was the right decision for Essex as well.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DOES Essex Police have enough officers? Will compulsory severance be an option for the force? Are police officers properly paid? 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