Some enterprising Police Officers in Northumbria have been running an unofficial arrests league table. The Officers get three points for an arrest and one for a summons or fixed penalty.
A colleague blew the whistle on the League tables to the local newspaper. Deputy Chief Constable David Warcup ordered the tables which were pinned up in the station taken down and ripped up.
The Deputy Chief Constable said his officers did not make arrests without cause and the League tables were not "an effective way of measuring performance. As soon as we found out there were numerical targets, where there was a points system, that was immediately stopped. We would absolutely discourage anybody from using their powers simply to meet targets."
I just love that last sentence, do you think he was trying to send a message to the Home Office?
At a time when there is growing concern over the amount of time Police officers spend in the station instead of out on the beat, should these league tables be discouraged?
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