The police are losing our trust – and that’s a disaster for all of us

What a calamitous state Britain’s police service is in. Has it ever before been so beleaguered, or us so disillusioned?
It’s not just the Metropolitan police who are up against it. So obsessed have politicians and the media been by the apparent propensity of London coppers to pour their hearts out to any passing journalist, we’d almost forgotten anything else mattered.
But not now. All of a sudden, cosy drinking sessions between the press and the police don’t seem quite so sinister. At least, not when compared with lying about the deaths of dozens of football fans, or years of dereliction that left children in the hands of violent rapists.
In the last ten months, we’ve seen South Yorkshire Police, Thames Valley, Surrey, West Yorkshire and others squirm as their crimes have been paraded before us.
And what a shocking line-up of exploitation, negligence and cowardice it is.
Twenty four years after the death of 96 people at Hillsborough, we at last know the full extent to which South Yorkshire Police lied and bullied their way out of trouble. The desperate grief of bereaved families was immaterial; senior police officers cared only about saving themselves.
This week, we heard that Thames Valley police failed for nearly five years to investigate the trafficking, torture and rape of children. Despite knowing who many of the victims and suspects were, their half-hearted probes led nowhere. No amount of writhing apology from the police or social services can mitigate the unforgiveable or undo the desolation caused. Which is just as well, seeing as we’ve already been told not to expect resignations from officials or the senior officers involved. They’ll be busy providing leadership and “driving improvements into the future”. That’s what the Thames Valley chief constable says, anyway.
Let’s not forget the Jimmy Savile scandal. Last week, West Yorkshire police apologised for its decades-long failure to investigate abuse allegations against him. Despite the Met’s vice squad telling their Yorkshire colleagues it was “common knowledge” that Savile “was a paedophile”, the mishandling of intelligence and evidence left him free to abuse dozens of children in his home town of Leeds – including at least one five-year-old.
And what of Surrey Police’s failure to investigate the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone in 2002 when, apparently, journalists told them they’d accessed her mailbox? Or their craven silence in 2011 amid the frenzy over phone hacking and allegations of police collusion?
Apparently, according to one former senior officer, nothing was ever said because the press was “untouchable and all powerful”.
Ah. So Surrey Police’s disastrous shortcomings were actually down to press intimidation. I only hope they weren’t as frightened as the Metropolitan Police apparently were when they first raided the News of the World’s offices in 2006.
According to evidence given at last year’s Leveson inquiry, the Met were “obstructed” and faced “some difficulty” when they attempted to search a reporter’s desk. Police were also concerned that staff might “offer some form of violence”.
Who could fail to be shocked by investigating officer Keith Surtees’ description of the horrors his men had to face that August day. Apparently, some journalists took photographs. Some even asked intimidating questions like, “Do you have a search warrant?” This must have been truly terrifying for police officers more used to breaking up crazed knife fights, patrolling football grudge matches and raiding the dens of violent drug dealers.
I’ve met a lot of tabloid hacks and some of them are definitely a bit rough around the edges. But I’ve yet to meet one who would physically attack a police officer in broad daylight, in front of witnesses, during office hours.
Last month, the Independent Police Complaints Commission found that senior Surrey officers knew about phone hacking and failed to act for almost a decade. Perhaps they could have stopped it. No one will ever know. Just as no one will be fired, or even be obliged to resign as a result. No one, it seems, will even get a written warning. No, the worst punishment will apparently be ‘words of advice’ from other senior officers. That’s basically the equivalent of telling your six year old she’ll be sick if she eats any more chocolate.
And let’s not forget the more minor cases, like the Warwickshire police officer charged with stealing £113,000 of tax-payers’ cash, whose own force refused to name him. Or the officer who faked reports, kept back forensic evidence and failed to interview suspects in twelve cases of alleged rape and assault.
There are dozens of other such stories. But the most significant one is that the incompetence, greed and corruption of the few has damaged the reputation of the many. Most officers serve and protect the public with passion and dedication. But as every politician knows, once the public turns against you, you’re damned forever.
And if the police really are losing our trust, they’re in serious trouble. More importantly, so are we.

This first appeared at http://www.speakerschair.com on 16th May 2013