The concept of police and crime commissioners is still very much on probation. Some Commissioners have fallen well short of the public's expectations and urgent reforms are needed to ensure that this concept does not put at risk public trust and engagement in the police, the very objectives for which PCCs were brought in. New Commissioners should have a transition period of one month between election and taking office. The hiring of deputies and the decision to remove chief constables are critical decisions for local communities and it is vital that the amount of the scrutiny applied to commissioners by police and crime panels increases. Panels' powers must be strengthened and extended to ensure that any decision to remove a chief constable is the right one for the public. Only this will provide full public confidence. Deputies should not be cronies that are given their job on the basis of nepotism. Panels should have the power of veto over the appointment of a deputy commissioner, where they have not stood for election alongside the commissioner. By electing Deputies on the same ticket we ensure that the public will be able to have their say on someone who often acts with the powers of the Commissioner. Though good working relationships between chief constables and PCCs are welcomed, the arrangement should never be too cosy. The setting of targets by PCCs must not promote the manipulation of crime figures and all PCCs should review their auditing arrangements immediately

How does the English legal system work? How does it affect everyday life? How well does it achieve its aims? Addressing these questions and more, English Legal System provides students with the fundamental knowledge they need to approach the subject with confidence. Packed with questions, case studies and examples, this book takes students on a journey, inviting them to read, understand, see the law in practice, and then think for themselves. The strongest foundation for students at the start of their study of law; this is a clear, complete, and contextualized account of the English legal system and an essential guide. Online resources English Legal System is supported by extensive online resources, featuring the following: For students: - Self-test questions to check understanding and progress - Multiple-choice questions to test the application of knowledge - Web links to aid reading around the topics - Video material to bring topics to life - A guide to reading cases to help build this key legal skill For lecturers: - Diagrams from the book for use in presentations

Since 2010 the Home Secretary has set out an ambitious plan for the new landscape of policing. However, more progress has to be made to declutter the landscape and ensure that the organisations created meet the rapidly evolving challenges facing 21st century policing. Force mergers are clearly back on the agenda. The College of Policing was a great idea that has both vision and purpose. However, numerous hurdles, weak foundations, and an unrepresentative board have hindered its ability to function to its full potential. In time, the College has the power to fashion a new concept of policing. For the local bobby, he or she needs a certificate of policing that is affordable, an oath that is binding and ethics that are ingrained within its DNA, and training that is practical, however at the moment none of this exists. The NCA has been a success, and has proved to be more responsive and more active than its predecessor SOCA, but it is not yet the FBI equivalent that it was hailed to be. Its reputation has been damaged by the unacceptably slow response to the backlog of child abuse cases sent to it by Toronto Police. The NCA must establish practical benchmarks against which its performance can be assessed. Its current asset recovery is not of a sufficient volume when set against its half a billion pound budget.

On 7 July 2014, the Home Secretary announced the establishment of an Independent Panel Inquiry to consider whether public bodies and non-state institutions had taken seriously their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. Baroness Butler-Sloss, former President of the Family Division of the High Court, was appointed Chair of the panel on 8 July, but she stepped down on 14 July after MPs and survivor groups expressed concerns about the possibility that the inquiry might have to consider decisions taken by her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, as Attorney General in the 1980s. Fiona Woolf CBE JP, the Lord Mayor of London, was appointed Chair on 5 September, but stepped down on 31 October after concerns were raised about her social contacts with Lord and Lady Brittan. On 4 February 2015, the Home Secretary announced plans to appoint Justice Lowell Goddard, a judge of the High Court of New Zealand, as the new Chair of the inquiry. She also announced that she would be dissolving the existing Panel and establishing a new, statutory inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005. Prior to the announcement of the new proposed Chair, the Committee took oral evidence about the panel inquiry During those evidence sessions witnesses' views were heard on the Home Office's process for selecting candidates for the new chair. There were well-publicised problems with the appointment of the Panel, which resulted in the early resignation of two previous Chairs. It is important that a Chair is now appointed who will command the confidence of survivors

This market-leading textbook covers the essential topics of the public law module in an insightful and interesting way. The book guides students through key themes which help them to understand how the many strands of public law are interlinked. The authors have a real flair for capturing both the vibrant nature of public law in practice and the key contemporary debates in the field. They use practical examples to bring this subject to life and include expert commentaries on each chapter to allow students to see academic debate first-hand. Online resources This book is accompanied by a range of online resources: � Updates from the authors to help students stay up to speed on this fast-moving subject � Extensive self-test questions with instant feedback give students the opportunity to test their learning � Videos of the authors introducing the key themes and issues discussed in each chapter � A library of web links and advice on which websites students should use when planning their own research � Online versions of the diagrams featured the book

The Committee were shocked by the scale of bullying that was found at the Federation's Headquarters. It is disgraceful that any Chairman should have been hounded out for championing the long-overdue reforms set out in the Normington Report. Only a new National Chair, elected directly by the Federation's rank-and-file members, will have the authority to implement these changes in full. At a local level, while some smaller branches struggle financially, others have accumulated reserves which add up to around £35 million, some of it in obscure "No. 2" accounts. A new funding formula, with subscriptions going straight to the centre and being distributed to branches, would remedy this. Federation funds should serve the Members and the public directly, not the organisation itself. Police officer's from every corner of England and Wales should receive an immediate rebate on their current subscriptions, which have accumulated into unnecessary reserves of around £70 million, and a subscription freeze for next year. There needs to be full transparency of all the Federation's accounts, at both national and local level.. Our police service is the best in the world but its reputation has been extensively damaged by the Federation suffering a sustained period of self inflicted harm.

With unrivalled political savvy and a keen sense of irony, distinguished political scientists Anthony King and Ivor Crewe open our eyes to the worst government horror stories and explain why the British political system is quite so prone to appalling mistakes.

This book offers a comprehensive and engaging introduction to the criminal justice system of England and Wales. Starting with an overview of the main theories of the causes of crime, this book explores and discusses the operation of the main criminal justice agencies including the police, probation and prison services and the legal and youth justice systems. The fourth edition has been revised, updated, expanded and features a new expert co-author. This book offers a lively and critical discussion of some of the main themes in criminal justice, from policy-making and crime control, to diversity and discrimination, to the global dimensions of criminal justice, including organised crime and the role performed by transnational policing organisations to combat it. Key updates to this new edition include: increased discussion of the measurement, prevention and detection of crime; a revised chapter on the police which discusses the principle of policing by consent, police methods, power and governance, and the abuse of power; further discussion of pressing contemporary issues in criminal justice, such as privatisation, multi-agency working, community-based criminal justice policy and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the delivery of criminal justice policy; a revised chapter that deals in detail with new and emerging forms of criminality and the response of the UK and global criminal justice system to these developments. This accessible text is essential reading for students taking introductory courses in criminology and criminal justice. A wide range of useful features include review questions, lists of further reading, timelines of key events and a glossary of key terms.

The London Metropolitan Police Service reported in 2012, that they had identified 259 violent youth gangs and 4,800 'gang-nominals' in 19 gang-affected boroughs. Also in 2012, Greater Manchester Police identified 66 Urban Street Gangs and estimated the total number of gang members across Greater Manchester to be 886. The Office of the Children's Commissioner's 2013 inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups found that 2,409 children and young people were subject to sexual exploitation in gangs and a further 16,500 children at risk, using a survey period of August 2010-October 2011. 21 police forces in England identified that they had criminally active gangs operating in their area. In total, individual forces reported 323 gangs as being criminally active, with 16 being associated with child sexual exploitation. In London between March 2013 and February 2014, only six per cent of stop-and-searches were conducted on females. London, while experiencing the most gang-related violence of any area in the country, has obtained only fourteen gang injunctions.

This report considers the events surrounding the police raid on 14 August of the home of Sir Cliff Richard OBE in Berkshire, and the circumstances under which the BBC came to have advance information about the raid. It concludes that South Yorkshire Police's handling of this situation was inept. The naming of suspects (or the confirming of a name when it is put to a force) when there is no operational need to do so is wrong. South Yorkshire Police should not have tried to cut a deal with the journalist, but rather approached senior BBC executives to explain the damage that such premature disclosure could do to the investigation. The BBC's Director General, Lord Hall, confirmed to the Committee that the BBC would act on such requests from Chief Constables. In the absence of any such approach from South Yorkshire, the BBC was well within its rights to run the story, although as a result Sir Cliff himself has suffered enormous, irreparable damage to his reputation. It appears that the BBC reporter clearly identified the source of his leak as Operation Yewtree. It is unfortunate therefore that South Yorkshire Police did not notify the Metropolitan Police so that the source of the Yewtree leak could be investigated.