A paramilitary police force for Britain?
PNAC | 13.11.2003 01:52
A debate on whether we should have a new paramilitary police force to handle transnational and serious crime.
National Security Policy: A National Police Force
A new force is needed to integrate the county forces' efforts at tackling crime with a national and international dimension, in addition to combating terrorism, and providing resources for dealing with issues outside the normal capabilities of the local police forces. ACPO recently suggested that a new force be created to deal with the threats of terrorism, border issues and transnational crime. This article is written by a non police source and does not seek to represent any official view of any kind.
Introduction
There is currently a debate into whether Britain should indeed follow many other countries in setting-up a national police force. There are of course many considerations that must be addressed, such as the advantages both to the effectiveness of the police and savings to the public purse, and disadvantages such as an over-centralisation and disengagement with local issues that can follow with a national force.
To say that Britain has not already got a national police force would be incorrect, we already have several forces which are national in their remit. One of these is the British Transport Police, which provides policing for the railways. Another is the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), and the National Crime Squad (NCS). There are a great deal of forces that cover the whole country, however, they are all seperate organisations.
There are presently 3 options under debate:
1. Retaining the status-quo, county police forces with some national squads.
2. Creating a wholly national police force by merging all the existing forces into one, thereby removing the old county police system.
3. Merging many of the smaller forces together into larger "super forces" as a means of saving money and pooling resources/expertise, such as Thames Valley which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire.
The fourth option, which will be introduced in this article, is a combination of options 2 and 3 and involves retaining the county forces, which some mergers, and setting-up an "umberella" national police force.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The main advantage of a national police force is in savings to the taxpayer through streamlining the management, fewer Chief Constables and fewer senior officers. Money could also be saved through centralising various departments and merging small county forces with each other into police regions. The result would be less cash spent on management and more on actual policing. A national force, with the ability to pool resources would also be able to develop more specialist units that local forces on their own would not normally be able to afford. These include US-style SWAT teams which only the Metropolitan Police can presently afford.
While it's impossible to make a comparison between the existing national squads and the local forces, mainly due to the fact that their remits and circumstances are different it is worth noting some of the criticisms the British Transport Police (BTP) has had. One of the main criticisms is the BTP is so widely spread that in many areas their presence is very thin on the ground. This means that there may be a couple of officers covering a huge area at certain times. Another criticism is that the force is very London-centric, as that is where the HQ is, where the recruitment department, management, media relations and specialist units are based. These criticisms are relevant to the BTP but less so to a full national police force, as the force would retain most of the existing county police presence. The main direct criticism of the concept of a national police force is that it would be less community-focused, and under far less local-scrutiny. Local communities at present have scrutiny over their police force through their local authority, which appoints councillors and lay members to the local Police Authority. A national force would remove local democratic say in how the force operates in a each particular county. A situation could be, that a national force would want to redeploy officers from a rural county to an urban area; residents would have no ability to prevent this. A national force would want to deploy resources logically to the areas with highest crime, but the balance between what's logical and what the public want is something that needs to be carefully dealt with. For instance, Surrey is the safest county in England, while London Boroughs such as Hackney have a crime rate that is one of the highest. Logic would say that because certain boroughs have a crime rate of 10 times that in Surrey, that huge numbers of officers from there should be redeployed. This wouldn't exactly be popular among the residents of areas that loose 90% of their police!
The National Police Force
Taking into account the various concerns people would have, a far better option would be something that could retain the community police and local accountability as well have an ability to integrate the different forces more and deal with national and international problems far more effectively. My solution to this is the formation of a national police force, while retaining the existing county forces. The national force would be an "umberella" force, and would integrate all the present national task forces and national squads into one organisation. In addition, new units to more adequately deal with new challenges (and existing ones) would be formed as part of the new force. Another aspect of this would be integrating the British Transport Police into the new force, the reasons for this are as follows:
1) This would provide police station facilities all over the country at railway stations for the new national force to use immediately, as they would be part of the force. This would mean the national force has its own premises in the majority of big towns (as well as being able to use all county police stations anyway).
2) Major railway stations are one of the main targets of terrorists, both Islamic and republican. The anti terrorist operations of the BTP would be an asset if they were expanded and put under the same roof as other national anti terrorist operations.
3) The BTP has a Police Support Unit (PSU) which is used for dealing with potential and actual public disorder/rioting on or around railway premises. This unit, which was commended for its actions in the riots in Bradford, could be expanded and made into a National Police Support Unit (NPSU). More on this later on.
4) The BTP Dog Section is used for all manner of things, searching for drugs/explosives, tracking and public order. Some of this unit could be expanded and integrated into the NPSU.
5) Existing uniformed officers and vehicles ready for immediate use by the new national force.
In addition, several functions carried out by the Met but with a national remit would be integrated into the national force.
Remit
The national police force would be responsible for all existing national squads, covering terrorism, organised crime and the like, and putting them all under the same roof to aid in communication between them. It would also have a remit to provide assistance to the local forces in dealing with problems outside the bounds of normal policing.
New and existing challenges
One area where a national, paramilitary-type police force could make a big difference is in the area of asylum deportations. A while ago the government asked the Met to deport 300 illegal immigrants a week, and apparently they said they could only manage about 30. This was due to more pressing problems such as muggings and black gun crime. The national force would have the facilities to concentrate its efforts on removing the malcontents that have outstayed their welcome, this would tie-in as part of its remit to deal with problems outside the bounds of normal policing. Asylum deportations would fill a large part of the workload of uniform branch until the situation is resolved. In addition, the national force, in having its own paramilitary uniformed branch, would not have to rely on local forces to assist as much when it conducts operations of its own against illegal immigrants, drug runners and terrorists.
Another area where the national force could assist would be in areas of the country where crime has run out of control and the local force is having difficulty in putting a lid on the situation. The national force could be called in to assist temporaily to "nip things in the bud". Temporary increases in the police presence, or the introduction of armed units, are tactics that have been used recently in Nottingham and in North London, with a good success rate.
Civil emergencies and terrorist attacks are situations which many people in this country feel the government has not planned sufficiently for. The national police would have a national control centre for aiding communication between forces, and emergency preparations to keep policing going in the event of a serious national emergency, as well as its own response to such emergencies. Examples include terrorist CBRN-type attacks.
The creation of a reserve component similar to the US National Guard could be explored.
"3rd Force"
A 3rd force is the concept of a force that is neither part of the civilian local police or part of the army. Many countries either have or have explored the idea of having a "3rd force". Forces such as these are mainly used for things such as public disorder and problems which require a lot of force which the civilian police not be adequately trained for. Another reason for a 3rd force is that certain functions such as public disorder, over a long period, risk politicising the civilian police and hindering their core task of combatting crime with the support of the communities they serve. In many ways, the national force would have a "3rd force" function. Examples include the CRS in France.
The NPSU
The NPSU - National Police Support Unit would be a national-level Police Support Unit for dealing with serious public disorder and local forces could request assistance of the NPSU via the normal mutual aid mechanisms. Another function of the NPSU would be to deal with any operations which require a high level of force or are risky. The NPSU could also be used in high intensity patrolling operations. All NPSU officers would be trained to the standard Level 1 public order, as per the TSG (Territorial Support Group - riot officers) in the Met Police. In addition, the NPSU would carry baton guns as used by the RUC/PSNI in Northern Ireland, Tear Gas, and a water canon unit would be made available. These options offer an enhanced choice of tactics for dealing with an escalating or out-of-control public order situation. The NPSU would form the first response to an NBC terrorist attack and be trained alongside existing local PSU's in this field.
Armed and Ready
Virtually all front-line officers in the National Police would be armed, so as to have the ability to defend themselves in case of attack with a firearm, and to be aggressive and pro-active in dealing with armed criminals.
Recruitment
The police forces in this country recently undertook huge recruitment initiatives. Obviously if a national force was introduced tomorrow then recruitment would be an issue to deal with. The nature of the National Police in having a large paramilitary element means that people with a higher level of fitness and ability than the average would be required. It would be desirable to have recruits with prior experience with firemarms, merely to save on training, and advanced firearms officers with existing authorisation would need no extra training whatsoever. Some officers could transfer from existing forces however it would not be desirable to poach too many officers from the local forces as many have problems with retention as it is. The government recently slashed the numbers of officers in the RUC/PSNI, some of these have transferred to mainland forces, it would be worth considering offering fast-tracking and encouragement to these officers, who are already firearms and police trained, to join the National Force, as they also have anti terrorist experience. Another source would be officers from the South African Police Service, another force under fire, which police one of the countries with the highest crime rate in the world. All SAPS officers are firearms trained, many undertake SWAT courses and deal with very serious incidents daily. An exodus of white officers, forced out by reverse-racism and "affirmative action", could be tapped-into more vigourosly and more could be encouraged to join this force.
It is clear that extra officers would be required for the new national force, for it to be able to adequately deal with terrorism and transnational crime. Another idea might be to train military units of the British Army to the level of Special Constables so that they may be used to provide support to deal with operations which require a high degree of force.
Conclusion
While the costs of this force have not been considered, the size and scope could vary massively according to how ambitious a future government wanted to be. One thing is certain, the National Force would save money in many areas by putting national squads under one roof and allowing greater communication. Many of the more ambitious plans are there out of necessity rather than any desire for grand schemes. One of the selling points of nationalism is a commitment to the restoration of law and order, and such a force would be a highly effective way of stamping out crime and returning dominance back to the law abiding citizen.
A new force is needed to integrate the county forces' efforts at tackling crime with a national and international dimension, in addition to combating terrorism, and providing resources for dealing with issues outside the normal capabilities of the local police forces. ACPO recently suggested that a new force be created to deal with the threats of terrorism, border issues and transnational crime. This article is written by a non police source and does not seek to represent any official view of any kind.
Introduction
There is currently a debate into whether Britain should indeed follow many other countries in setting-up a national police force. There are of course many considerations that must be addressed, such as the advantages both to the effectiveness of the police and savings to the public purse, and disadvantages such as an over-centralisation and disengagement with local issues that can follow with a national force.
To say that Britain has not already got a national police force would be incorrect, we already have several forces which are national in their remit. One of these is the British Transport Police, which provides policing for the railways. Another is the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), and the National Crime Squad (NCS). There are a great deal of forces that cover the whole country, however, they are all seperate organisations.
There are presently 3 options under debate:
1. Retaining the status-quo, county police forces with some national squads.
2. Creating a wholly national police force by merging all the existing forces into one, thereby removing the old county police system.
3. Merging many of the smaller forces together into larger "super forces" as a means of saving money and pooling resources/expertise, such as Thames Valley which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire.
The fourth option, which will be introduced in this article, is a combination of options 2 and 3 and involves retaining the county forces, which some mergers, and setting-up an "umberella" national police force.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The main advantage of a national police force is in savings to the taxpayer through streamlining the management, fewer Chief Constables and fewer senior officers. Money could also be saved through centralising various departments and merging small county forces with each other into police regions. The result would be less cash spent on management and more on actual policing. A national force, with the ability to pool resources would also be able to develop more specialist units that local forces on their own would not normally be able to afford. These include US-style SWAT teams which only the Metropolitan Police can presently afford.
While it's impossible to make a comparison between the existing national squads and the local forces, mainly due to the fact that their remits and circumstances are different it is worth noting some of the criticisms the British Transport Police (BTP) has had. One of the main criticisms is the BTP is so widely spread that in many areas their presence is very thin on the ground. This means that there may be a couple of officers covering a huge area at certain times. Another criticism is that the force is very London-centric, as that is where the HQ is, where the recruitment department, management, media relations and specialist units are based. These criticisms are relevant to the BTP but less so to a full national police force, as the force would retain most of the existing county police presence. The main direct criticism of the concept of a national police force is that it would be less community-focused, and under far less local-scrutiny. Local communities at present have scrutiny over their police force through their local authority, which appoints councillors and lay members to the local Police Authority. A national force would remove local democratic say in how the force operates in a each particular county. A situation could be, that a national force would want to redeploy officers from a rural county to an urban area; residents would have no ability to prevent this. A national force would want to deploy resources logically to the areas with highest crime, but the balance between what's logical and what the public want is something that needs to be carefully dealt with. For instance, Surrey is the safest county in England, while London Boroughs such as Hackney have a crime rate that is one of the highest. Logic would say that because certain boroughs have a crime rate of 10 times that in Surrey, that huge numbers of officers from there should be redeployed. This wouldn't exactly be popular among the residents of areas that loose 90% of their police!
The National Police Force
Taking into account the various concerns people would have, a far better option would be something that could retain the community police and local accountability as well have an ability to integrate the different forces more and deal with national and international problems far more effectively. My solution to this is the formation of a national police force, while retaining the existing county forces. The national force would be an "umberella" force, and would integrate all the present national task forces and national squads into one organisation. In addition, new units to more adequately deal with new challenges (and existing ones) would be formed as part of the new force. Another aspect of this would be integrating the British Transport Police into the new force, the reasons for this are as follows:
1) This would provide police station facilities all over the country at railway stations for the new national force to use immediately, as they would be part of the force. This would mean the national force has its own premises in the majority of big towns (as well as being able to use all county police stations anyway).
2) Major railway stations are one of the main targets of terrorists, both Islamic and republican. The anti terrorist operations of the BTP would be an asset if they were expanded and put under the same roof as other national anti terrorist operations.
3) The BTP has a Police Support Unit (PSU) which is used for dealing with potential and actual public disorder/rioting on or around railway premises. This unit, which was commended for its actions in the riots in Bradford, could be expanded and made into a National Police Support Unit (NPSU). More on this later on.
4) The BTP Dog Section is used for all manner of things, searching for drugs/explosives, tracking and public order. Some of this unit could be expanded and integrated into the NPSU.
5) Existing uniformed officers and vehicles ready for immediate use by the new national force.
In addition, several functions carried out by the Met but with a national remit would be integrated into the national force.
Remit
The national police force would be responsible for all existing national squads, covering terrorism, organised crime and the like, and putting them all under the same roof to aid in communication between them. It would also have a remit to provide assistance to the local forces in dealing with problems outside the bounds of normal policing.
New and existing challenges
One area where a national, paramilitary-type police force could make a big difference is in the area of asylum deportations. A while ago the government asked the Met to deport 300 illegal immigrants a week, and apparently they said they could only manage about 30. This was due to more pressing problems such as muggings and black gun crime. The national force would have the facilities to concentrate its efforts on removing the malcontents that have outstayed their welcome, this would tie-in as part of its remit to deal with problems outside the bounds of normal policing. Asylum deportations would fill a large part of the workload of uniform branch until the situation is resolved. In addition, the national force, in having its own paramilitary uniformed branch, would not have to rely on local forces to assist as much when it conducts operations of its own against illegal immigrants, drug runners and terrorists.
Another area where the national force could assist would be in areas of the country where crime has run out of control and the local force is having difficulty in putting a lid on the situation. The national force could be called in to assist temporaily to "nip things in the bud". Temporary increases in the police presence, or the introduction of armed units, are tactics that have been used recently in Nottingham and in North London, with a good success rate.
Civil emergencies and terrorist attacks are situations which many people in this country feel the government has not planned sufficiently for. The national police would have a national control centre for aiding communication between forces, and emergency preparations to keep policing going in the event of a serious national emergency, as well as its own response to such emergencies. Examples include terrorist CBRN-type attacks.
The creation of a reserve component similar to the US National Guard could be explored.
"3rd Force"
A 3rd force is the concept of a force that is neither part of the civilian local police or part of the army. Many countries either have or have explored the idea of having a "3rd force". Forces such as these are mainly used for things such as public disorder and problems which require a lot of force which the civilian police not be adequately trained for. Another reason for a 3rd force is that certain functions such as public disorder, over a long period, risk politicising the civilian police and hindering their core task of combatting crime with the support of the communities they serve. In many ways, the national force would have a "3rd force" function. Examples include the CRS in France.
The NPSU
The NPSU - National Police Support Unit would be a national-level Police Support Unit for dealing with serious public disorder and local forces could request assistance of the NPSU via the normal mutual aid mechanisms. Another function of the NPSU would be to deal with any operations which require a high level of force or are risky. The NPSU could also be used in high intensity patrolling operations. All NPSU officers would be trained to the standard Level 1 public order, as per the TSG (Territorial Support Group - riot officers) in the Met Police. In addition, the NPSU would carry baton guns as used by the RUC/PSNI in Northern Ireland, Tear Gas, and a water canon unit would be made available. These options offer an enhanced choice of tactics for dealing with an escalating or out-of-control public order situation. The NPSU would form the first response to an NBC terrorist attack and be trained alongside existing local PSU's in this field.
Armed and Ready
Virtually all front-line officers in the National Police would be armed, so as to have the ability to defend themselves in case of attack with a firearm, and to be aggressive and pro-active in dealing with armed criminals.
Recruitment
The police forces in this country recently undertook huge recruitment initiatives. Obviously if a national force was introduced tomorrow then recruitment would be an issue to deal with. The nature of the National Police in having a large paramilitary element means that people with a higher level of fitness and ability than the average would be required. It would be desirable to have recruits with prior experience with firemarms, merely to save on training, and advanced firearms officers with existing authorisation would need no extra training whatsoever. Some officers could transfer from existing forces however it would not be desirable to poach too many officers from the local forces as many have problems with retention as it is. The government recently slashed the numbers of officers in the RUC/PSNI, some of these have transferred to mainland forces, it would be worth considering offering fast-tracking and encouragement to these officers, who are already firearms and police trained, to join the National Force, as they also have anti terrorist experience. Another source would be officers from the South African Police Service, another force under fire, which police one of the countries with the highest crime rate in the world. All SAPS officers are firearms trained, many undertake SWAT courses and deal with very serious incidents daily. An exodus of white officers, forced out by reverse-racism and "affirmative action", could be tapped-into more vigourosly and more could be encouraged to join this force.
It is clear that extra officers would be required for the new national force, for it to be able to adequately deal with terrorism and transnational crime. Another idea might be to train military units of the British Army to the level of Special Constables so that they may be used to provide support to deal with operations which require a high degree of force.
Conclusion
While the costs of this force have not been considered, the size and scope could vary massively according to how ambitious a future government wanted to be. One thing is certain, the National Force would save money in many areas by putting national squads under one roof and allowing greater communication. Many of the more ambitious plans are there out of necessity rather than any desire for grand schemes. One of the selling points of nationalism is a commitment to the restoration of law and order, and such a force would be a highly effective way of stamping out crime and returning dominance back to the law abiding citizen.
PNAC