The Police Service Status and Duties

A British police officer is subject to the law and may be sued or prosecuted for any wrongful act committed in carrying out duties. Police discipline codes are designed to prevent any abuse of the considerable powers enjoyed by a police officer, to ensure the impartiality of the service in its dealings with the public and to maintain public confidence. Statutory procedures, including an independent element, govern the way in which complaints from the public against the police are handled. The establishment of the independent Police Complaints Authority, with powers to supervise the investigation of any serious complaint against a police officer, substantially reformed the complaints system in England and Wales. In Scotland complaints against police officers involving allegations of any form of criminal conduct are investigated by independent public prosecutors.

In Northern Ireland the Independent Commission for Police Complaints is required to supervise any case involving death or serious injury and has the power to supervise the formal investigation of any other complaint if it so wishes; in certain circumstances the Secretary of State may direct the Commission to supervise the investigation of matters that are not the subject of a formal complaint.

Police work ranges from the protection of people and property, road or street patrolling (the trend is increasingly away from the car patrol and back to ‘community’ policing on foot) and traffic control to crime prevention, criminal investigation and arresting offenders. In urban areas, particularly, police officers have to deal with social problems and may bring in other social agencies and expert help.

Most forces have community liaison departments to coordinate their efforts to produce good relations with the community. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act requires arrangements to be made for obtaining the views of people in the area about the policing of it and for obtaining their cooperation with the police in preventing crime. Almost all areas have police/community consultative groups which enable people to discuss issues of concern with the police in a constructive spirit. Particular efforts are made to develop relations with young people through greater contact with schools, for example. Emphasis is also placed on relations with ethnic minorities; racially discriminatory behaviour by police officers is an offence under the Police Discipline Code, and training in community relations is available to officers.

To release as many uniformed police officers as possible for operational duties, police authorities employ over 41,500 civilians (including part-time employees) in England and Wales and over 2,530 in Scotland. The number of civilian support staff has been growing as forces secure economies by replacing police officers with civilians where posts do not require police powers and training. Traffic wardens (of whom there are over 4,700 in England and Wales and about 540 in Scotland) carry out specified duties concerned with traffic and parking. Wardens are under control of the chief constable.

Each force has an attachment of volunteer special constables who perform police duties in their spare time, without pay, acting mainly as auxiliaries to the regular force. In Northern Ireland there is a part-time and full-time paid reserve.

Members of the police service may not belong to a trade union nor may they withdraw their labour in furtherance of a trade dispute. All ranks, however, have their own staff associations to represent their interests.