Former Scotland Yard Detective Peter Bleksley has hit out at the "stony-silent" Police Federation after chiefs were granted "tougher powers" to remove "unvetted" officers.Police chiefs will be able to use the powers to crack down on unfit officers - meaning those who fail vetting checks will now automatically be sacked from the police force.FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00Police chiefs will be able to use tougher prowess to crack down on unfit officers.
00:05Yes, so it means that those who fail vetting checks will now automatically be sacked from the police force.
00:11Well, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, says that the changes are essential to restoring confidence in policing.
00:17Well, joining us now is former Scotland Yard detective Peter Blexley, who's come dressed for the occasion.
00:22Happy St George's Day to you.
00:23Wonderful stuff. For those who are listening on the radio, we have a fantastic St George's cross tie
00:28and also a nice, what would you call it?
00:30English rose.
00:31Corsage.
00:33Yes, very attractive.
00:34Peter, tell us, why is this only happening now? What do you think?
00:38Well, it's a problem all of the police is making, basically, because in recent years,
00:43they thought it a good idea to cut back on vetting as part of their recruitment.
00:48And so, of course, many monsters found their way into policing,
00:53who quite simply shouldn't have been anywhere near a warrant card or a police uniform.
00:57Well, this is really Sir Mark Rowley's law, I think it might become known as,
01:01because he's been really pushing for this almost since day one of becoming commissioner.
01:07Now, this is not going to be a cure-all.
01:11Of course, good cops hate bad cops and don't want to be anywhere near them.
01:16And, of course, the public don't want bad, rotten police officers.
01:20But the questions that this legislation is going to throw up are who's going to be doing the vetting,
01:28what standards and at what level will the bar be set?
01:32In other words, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable for somebody to join the police.
01:37And, of course, because it's new legislation, it will be tested in the courts.
01:44You can absolutely guarantee that the Police Federation, in other words, Police Officers Union,
01:51for want of a better expression, will test this legislation when they think somebody has been unfairly dismissed.
01:58Because this is the thing about automatic exclusion.
02:02That implies no right of sort of testing that, no appeals process.
02:09What do we know about how the vetting system works?
02:13How trustworthy is it?
02:15Well, in the past, it's been appalling because the bar was lowered so dramatically.
02:19The number of staff engaged in vetting procedures was reduced dramatically.
02:24And so, consequently, many people just basically got ushered into policing
02:28when they shouldn't have been a million miles near it.
02:31There have been improvements.
02:33The Met have used police officers now with some level of investigative experience to do the vetting,
02:41which I think is a good idea.
02:43I'm not saying that all the staff have to be experienced detectives.
02:47Some civilian staff can do an element of it.
02:49But there needs investigative brains here.
02:52What do you look for if a CRB check comes back, for example, with nothing on it,
02:58so it appears to be clear?
02:59What else needs to be looked at?
03:02Do we need home visits, for example?
03:04Was that how it used to be when you joined the force?
03:07Did they have home visits?
03:08Did they meet with your friends and family to check you're not a wrong one?
03:11What was it like back in the day?
03:12Absolutely.
03:13I had a very wise senior constable come round.
03:16And as well as trying to persuade me to go into policing,
03:20he very much quite cleverly just said,
03:23you know, oh, and what posters have you got on the wall of your bedroom?
03:26And I was all like, come and have a look, because I was proud of them.
03:29I was a teenager.
03:30You know, and of course, that was his gateway into getting into my bedroom,
03:34having a look, you know.
03:35Checking out a weirdo, basically.
03:36Exactly, exactly.