A \u00a31,000 \u201cbobby tax\u201d for prospective police officers risks stopping the service looking like the public it serves, an MP has warned.<\/p>\n
Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden in London, asked \u201cDo you want the police to be like us, or only for the rich?\u201d, referring to the new Certificate in Knowledge of Policing.\u00a0Ms McDonagh has also started an online petition against the new cost.<\/p>\n
She raised the issue at Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday 15 January.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThe Government are doing something very silly that\u2019s going to make our community harder to police. It’s something I feel so strongly about I’ve raised it in Parliament. The Government is putting a tax of around \u00a31,000 on anyone who wants to be a police officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs if the cost of living wasn\u2019t bad enough already they\u2019re bringing in a new Bobby Tax.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom now on, anyone who wants to apply to become a police officer can forget it, unless they can cough up a grand to go on a new course they\u2019ve invented called the Certificate in Knowledge of Policing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout paying the money, you won\u2019t even be allowed to apply for the force, let alone have an interview or get the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the College of Policing: \u201cThe Certificate in Knowledge of Policing is a means towards achieving the Diploma in Policing. The Diploma is a requirement for all new police constables, and is the national minimum professional qualification.\u201d<\/p>\n
It will cost prospective police officers between \u00a3750 and \u00a31,000 to attain.<\/p>\n
The College adds: \u201cIt is for each individual police force to decide whether applicants to become police officers will need to have the Certificate before they apply. The Metropolitan Police is the first force to require this for new candidates who are not special constables; other forces are following suit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms McDonagh added: \u201cThe Army stopped all that back in 1871, when they realised it was better to give the job to people based on merit rather than on how rich or posh they are.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should our best, most talented youngsters have to fork out \u00a31,000 for the privilege of joining the police?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make any sense. Most of the young people from Mitcham and Morden won\u2019t be able to afford that \u2013 so we\u2019ll end up with police officers from wealthy backgrounds, who don\u2019t know the first thing about what it\u2019s like to live in a community like ours.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone agrees we need to have a police force that is more like the community it polices. We need more people from tough backgrounds, more people from ethnic minorities. In short, we need more people from places like Mitcham and Morden.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s not going to happen now, is it? A thousand pounds is too much for people from round here to afford.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding at Prime Minister Questions, PM David Cameron said: \u201cWhat we are trying to do through the College of Policing is even further professionalise this vital profession \u2013 I will make sure the Home Secretary contacts her about this particular issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
The College of Policing says the \u201cCertificate gives you an understanding of policing and police law, and to demonstrate some of the critical decision-making skills that are required for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
If people cannot afford the \u00a3750 – \u00a31,000 they are advised to \u201cenquire about any available funding from individual providers.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A \u00a31,000 \u201cbobby tax\u201d for prospective police officers risks stopping the service looking like the public it serves, an MP has warned. Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":754,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions\/754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essexfedfocus.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}