Cameron faces obstacles in bringing in US police chief Bill Bratton to head Met

Prime minister’s own police reform bill and clampdown on immigration may thwart appointment of former New York top cop David Cameron’s hopes of installing former US police chief Bill Bratton as head of the Metropolitan police may be thwarted by the prime minister’s own police reform bill and clampdown on immigration, the Guardian has learned. The deadline for applications for the job was supposed to be Friday but it has been put back because this week’s riots have consumed the time of Britain’s police leadership. Who succeeds Sir Paul Stephenson in the UK’s most senior police role is part of the wider clash between Cameron and police bosses. The war of words between No 10 and Scotland Yard over the tactics used to deal with this week’s riots continued yesterday and is just the latest in a series of disputes to poison relations between the Conservatives and the police. The unprecedented private and public row, plus the loss of two Met commissioners in two and a half years, is said by police chiefs to be deterring British-born senior officers from applying for the job. It emerged last week that Cameron was interested in appointing Bratton, who headed forces in New York and Los Angeles, As a US citizen he may, however, be blocked by the police and social responsibility bill currently going through parliament. It states that the Met commissioner must hold the office of “constable”. Bratton, who has never served in the British police, is not a constable. He could be sworn in but would then face another obstacle. Those who hold the office of constable who are not British citizens must have been granted immigration status allowing them to remain in the UK indefinitely. The government has said it will restrict the numbers of people being granted permission to stay in Britain indefinitely to restrict immigration. The advert placed for the vacancy by the Home Office states only a British citizen can become Met commissioner, although the prime minister’s keenness for the US police veteran has led to speculation that that clause could be dropped. The worst riots to hit Britain in living memory have again shaken up the field of candidates. It is understood that former Met assistant commissioner Steve House is strongly considering applying. House is seen as having done a good job since leaving London to lead the Strathclyde force. He may choose to apply for the Met job, even though he would be the frontrunner to be the new chief of a single Scottish force, which is being considered. Cameron’s favourite British contender, Sara Thornton, is said to be unsure about applying. She is chief constable of the Thames Valley force which covers the constituencies of the PM and home secretary. Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, came second last time round. He would probably be the choice of the police service and has been robust in defending it against the government. But one insider with knowledge of Whitehall thinking said that outspokenness and a perception that he “shoots from the hip” might cost him the job, which is essentially decided by the mayor of London and the home secretary. “He criticises the government almost every day. That does not endear him. In fact he did it again today, and yesterday.” Cameron is impressed by the current acting Met deputy Bernard Hogan-Howe, who was seconded into the force by the home secretary after Stephenson was forced out by his errors of judgment in the phone-hacking scandal. Hogan-Howe is a former head of Merseyside police who even critics say “looks the part”, but some officers worry whether he could handle the politicians and the politics. Tim Godwin, serving his second spell as acting Met commissioner, is seen as able, but the damage of police mishandling earlier this week as riots hit, has not helped his chances, which beforehand even admirers thought were slimmer than they ought to be. A long list of candidates will be drawn up shortly, which may also include Peter Neyroud, formerly of the National Policing Improvement Agency. It will then be whittled down to a list of two. Relations between the Tories and the Met leadership started to nosedive after Boris Johnson was elected London’s mayor in May 2009. His top policing aide, Kit Malthouse, annoyed top officers who claimed he was interfering on their sacred turf, namely operational matters. In September 2009 Malthouse told the Guardian that the Tories “have our hands on the tiller” of Scotland Yard, which infuriated its leadership. He backed down, but last month’s demise of Stephenson means Johnson has seen two commissioners resign in under three years, after none had done so for over a century. Nationally the Tories in opposition angered police chiefs with their plans for elected commissioners which were branded as an attempt to install political control of policing. Friction between the police and government in England and Wales was already high over the imposition of eight different reform reviews, even before senior ministers damaged relations further by appearing to claim credit for forcing the police to take a tougher line with the rioters. The Hutton review is set to force through increases in police contributions to pensions costing £349 to £1,169 a year for constables. The Neyroud review into police leadership is proposing a new professional body for policing responsible for the key national standards, qualification frameworks, and leadership and training. The two parts of the Winsor review are looking at conditions of service and opening up recruitment. Next year the government intends to hold elections for police and crime commissioners to oversee chief constables, a move likely to cost £100m that has already provoked a furious response at what is seen as the politicisation of the police. Other inquiries include the Leveson inquiry into the role of the Met in failing to investigate wrongdoing at News International. Elizabeth Filkin, a former parliamentary commissioner for standards, is inquiring into the ethical considerations that should underpin relationships between police and media and how to ensure maximum transparency. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary is to consider instances of undue influence, inappropriate contractual arrangements and other abuses of power in police relationships with the media and other parties. The Home Office is also to inquire into whether the Independent Police Complaints Commission should have further powers, including whether it should be given the power to question civilian witnesses during the course of its investigations. The IPCC may also be given a greater role in investigating allegations about institutional failings of a force or forces. At the same time the police are facing cuts in their budgest that HMIC has said will lead to cuts in 16,000 police officers by the end of the four year spending review. At the time of the news international crisis, Cameron made no attempt to hide the breadth of of his police reform programme saying the ” police system is too closed. There is only one point of entry into the force. There are too few-and arguably too similar-candidates for the top jobs. I want to see radical proposals for how we can open up our police force and bring in fresh leadership. We need to see if we can extend that openness to the operational side too. Why should all police officers have to start at the same level? Why should someone with a different skill set not be able to join the police force in a senior role? The emergency debate on Thursday on the riot saw a large number of Conservative MPs wade into police inadequacy. The fiercest criticsm has come from the former shadow home secretary David Davis who acused the Met has stumbled from one blunder to another. The result:its reputation and its confidence has been severely damaged. For a decade we’ve seen the consequences of the Met’s flawed counter terrorism strategy and now London is suffering as a result of its failure to tackle gang culture and control the riots. ” Police UK riots David Cameron Liberal-Conservative coalition Vikram Dodd Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 12, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.