NCJ Number
203686
Date Published
2003
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This chapter explores current issues in public-sector leadership and their impact on the police organization in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The shift from "welfare" to "managerialism" is examined and illustrated with the philosophy and practice of Best Value and the recent publication of the first National Policing Plan. The new public management began with an attempt to introduce an agenda around "economy," "efficiency," and "effectiveness" into the governing of public-sector organizations through Home Office circular 114 of 1983. This involved a shift away from a focus on "inputs" in favor of measuring what public-sector organization actually produced ("outputs"). Outputs were primarily to be assessed through measurement according to quantifiable, numerical criteria. In June 1997, the New Labour Government announced the introduction of a new duty for local authorities in order to ensure "base value" for the public. Under this philosophy, police authorities were to challenge the services they provide and ask why they provide them; open up the services that they provide to competition; benchmark the performance of their forces in terms of the comparison element of the regime; and consult the communities being policed. Since 1992, all local authorities have been statutorily required to collect and publish performance indicators. Following the passage of the Police Reform Act 2002, the Home Secretary produced the first National Policing Plan. The plan provides the strategic national overview against which chief officers and police authorities should prepare their own local 3-year strategy plans and annual policing plans. This chapter considers the challenges for police leadership posed by the performance culture engendered by the "new" managerialism and explores the ways in which police training has attempted to respond to these challenges. The tensions between police "management" and "leadership" are then explored with reference to the discourse of "competency" and the associated framework that has been recently developed. 1 figure, 4 notes, and 75 references