Police watchdog for England and Wales demands new powers amid trust crisis

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The head of the police inspectorate in England and Wales has demanded sweeping new powers to compel police forces to tackle what he described as the worst crisis in law and order in living memory.

In his first annual assessment as head of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), Andy Cooke said there was a limited opportunity to restore public trust in police before it was irreparably damaged.

“Public trust in the police hanging by a thread,” Cooke said. He said the crisis in public confidence in the police was partly due to a series of “dreadful scandals” including the murder of Sarah Everard by the serving Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens and the 48 rape convictions of David Carrick, another Met officer.

Such scandals could have been tackled earlier if the HMICFRS had the power to compel forces to follow its recommendations rather than relying on the current system of voluntary compliance, Cooke said.

He expressed frustration at repeated failures of police forces, including the Met, to act on police inspectorate warnings first raised in 2016 over officers abusing their positions with victims for sexual purposes.

“In those seven years, we’ve had some truly horrendous acts by police officers,” he said as he launched the report. “I’m not saying that wouldn’t have happened if they’d done our recommendations earlier. But if I could direct around those issues, as opposed to recommending, a lot more would have been done a lot quicker.”

He added: “Too often we’ve seen forces failing to act, or not acting quickly enough, to address our recommendations.”

Cooke urged the government to introduce legislation to make it a legal requirement for police forces to follow directions from the inspectorate on issues of public safety. His report also demands a role for HMICFRS in the recruitment of chief constables and other senior officers to improve the calibre of police chiefs.

He called for “substantial reform” of police vetting and recruitment processes, “including for chief officers”.

Cooke said too much police time was being wasted filling gaps left by cuts to public services. He endorsed a plan by the Met to stop attending emergency mental health calls.

“So much of policing time has been diverted to other parts of a broken system … it takes time a way from catching criminals,” he said. “Many of these other public services are under financial pressure, too, and can’t meet their own demand. For example, in 2022 the police attended 600,000 incidents relating to mental health … It is not the job for policing to treat mental health.”

Cooke, a former chief constable of Merseyside police, a force he joined in 1985, said: “I can’t recall a time when the relationship between the police and public was more strained than it is now.”

He complained of a “stark decline” in offences bought to justice, with the charge rate falling by two-thirds since 2015.

“The police aren’t helped by a system of policing funding which is not fit for purpose and a criminal justice system which is dysfunctional and defective,” he said.

He pointed out that the backlog of crown court cases had reached record levels last October. Cooke said such “widespread systemic failings” also damaged public trust in the police.

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In a wide-ranging report, Cooke insisted that stop and search was an effective way of deterring crime and showing police visibility on the street. But he said police leaders should explain why it had been disproportionally used against black people. He said: “That doesn’t mean that the police are being racist … There’s also more disproportionality for victims. It is four times more likely as a black man to be murdered than a young white man.”

Cooke urged police forces to avoid political campaigns. “It is not their role to champion social change,” he said. “The police need to prioritise the issues that matter most to the public. Forces are failing to get the basics right.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council chair, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, said the report highlighted the “range of challenges in meeting the needs of communities across the UK” as well as “the dedication of officers, staff and volunteers”.

“Policing must continue to do more to earn back the trust and confidence of the public, which we know has been eroded over recent years,” he added. “To do so, we remain focused on preventing crime and disorder, listening to communities’ concerns … and providing consistently high-quality services in responding to emergencies, investigating crime and keeping people safe.

“The report also rightly recognises the pressure on the criminal justice system and mental health services and the serious impact this has for society in accessing justice and care.”

Suella Braverman, the home secretary, welcomed the report, saying: “I equally share his concern that policing needs strong leaders, a greater focus on the basics and issues that matter most to the public – and to be more visible in communities.

“This is why I’ve been calling for common sense policing. With the highest number of police officers than ever before, the police must deliver for victims.”