Watchdog calls for increased powers amid crisis in policing

The head of the police inspectorate 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 chief of His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), Andy Cooke warned there was only a limited opportunity to restore public trust in the police before it was irreparably damaged.

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

They could have been tackled earlier if HMIC had the power to compel forces to follow its recommendations rather than rely on a system of voluntary compliance, Cooke said.

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

Launching his report, Cooke said: “In those seven years, we’ve had some truly horrendous acts by police officers. 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.”

Cooke urged the government 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 HMIC in the recruitment of chief constables and other senior officers. Cooke's report complained that too

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

Cooke said: “So much of policing time has been diverted to other parts of a broken system … it takes time away from catching criminals.

“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 added: “I can’t recall a time when the relationship between the police and public is more strained than it is now.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council chair, chief constable Gavin Stephens, said the report showed police forces “must continue to do more to earn back the trust and confidence of the public”. “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 the justice and care,” he added.

The home secretary, Suella Braverman, said: “I thank [Cooke] for his report and welcome his acknowledgment that crime is going down.

“But there is lots more to do and 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.”