Government gives £69m to policing since launch of reform programme

Policing needs a “big shift” to tackle the challenges that cybercrime poses as it takes a reflective look at the hopes and aspirations over the next decade. A year on from the launch of its Vision 2025, Police Reform and Transformation Board chair Paddy Tipping believes “substantial progress” has been made in setting out an agenda locally, regionally and nationally. The Nottinghamshire police and crime commissioner says the programme is “building capabilities for the future”. The Home Office has committed more than £69 million from the Police Transformation Fund this year to projects including investments in digital policing platforms to enable members of the public to report crime and track their cases online, as well as a pilot for a national police medical welfare service. An extra £20 million over three years was taken from the fund to grow a network of undercover officers to target offenders grooming children online for sexual exploitation. And earlier this month, the Government chose KBR as its delivery for the Transforming Forensics Programme, which will provide crime scene investigators with their own frontline analytical tools with streamlined laboratories. Mr Tipping said he is “encouraged by the energy and collaborative working that has taken place” since the beginning of Policing Vision 2025 last November. He added: “With an additional 44 reform projects, we are on our way to achieving our goals in the vision. By funding innovative ways of working, we are preparing policing for the future. “We are working together to set the agenda for reforming policing locally, regionally and nationally. “We remain focused on finding the opportunities to work better together but we are under no illusions that reform requires strong leadership and that is what the Police Reform and Transformation Board is determined to deliver. “We need to rise to the new challenges of policing, ensuring that we balance how we police neighbourhoods with how we police the new communities on-line. “As more crime is committed online both now and into the future we need to look at the how we can make cyberspace a safe place for our citizens and communities. “This requires a big shift, but our transformation reform programme is building the capabilities for the future, which local forces can all share.” National Police Chiefs’ Council chair Sara Thornton said: “We have developed a strong transformation programme with new capabilities to tackle online child abuse and modern slavery, a transformational approach to forensic services, the opportunity to procure basic office services and digital platforms together and a commitment to share a range of specialist capabilities at a regional level. “These initiatives will all help to tackle the challenges we face from criminal, terrorist and digital networks in 2017 and beyond. “There is still much to do together and we will work at pace to get there, with the board identifying and commissioning projects that will be most effective in achieving our vision.”