'Catastrophic' College of Policing 'Should Be Replaced': Report

The rainbow flag on a police officer during Pride in London on July 6, 2019. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images for Pride in London)

Britain's next prime minister needs to implement a series of targeted reforms as the public believe that the police are "more interested in being woke than solving crimes," a report has urged.

The report by the conservative think tank Policy Exchange (pdf), written by former Metropolitan Police officer David Spencer, said that said police should avoid behaviour such as "taking the knee," which can "easily be interpreted by others as an expression of a partisan political view."

Former police officers who have been outspoken against ideological capture in the force told The Epoch Times that they welcomed the report.

Police officers on duty in the United Kingdom on Sept. 17, 2017. (Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

Ideological Capture

Spencer said that "British policing has lost its way," but that his paper "proposes a policy programme for turning round British policing, making our communities safer and preparing to tackle the crime threats of the future."

He made 11 recommendations, among which include not taking the knee for Black Lives Matter; a rapid review of police training and promotions; getting the Home Office to recruit an army of hacker cops to fight online sexual abuse and fraud; and dealing with environmental and ideological protests.

Spencer said the College of Policing, the professional body for policing in England and Wales, has become "synonymous to many within policing with a reduction in standards alongside a perceived lack of real-world relevance to the prevention of crime and disorder," and "should be replaced."

He added that it had a "catastrophic reputation within policing" over "its failure over the last decade to deliver workforce reform that has been both substantive and effective."

'Police Without Fear or Favour'

Retired London police officer Norman Brennan, who has 42 years of police experience, told The Epoch Times that the report "completely resonated" with his views.

"We've got a police service now which is run by senior management who are completely detached from frontline police officers. They are more like social workers than police leaders," he said.

The statue of 17th century merchant, Edward Colston, falls into the water after protesters pulled it down during a protest following the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Bristol, England, on June 7, 2020. Spencer wrote that policemust be supported by national and local guidancewhich provides them with the best chance of achieving the right balance in such cases.(Keir Gravil via Reuters)

"When did it ever become right for a police officer to paint their faces wearing the Queen's uniform in multi-colours and police cars in multi-colours, and no disrespect, but dancing like idiots. That's not what the public wants," he said, adding that the ethos of the force is that "you police without fear or favour."

Brennan added that instead of woke issues, the police should focus on "strong leadership."

In the report, Spencer wrote that the perception of impartiality is critical to maintaining the public’s confidence that policing is fair. Recent polling has found that “the public were almost twice as likely to agree than disagree with the statement that ‘the police are more interested in being woke than solving crimes.’”

"Acts that may be intended as a show of solidarity against discrimination, such as ‘taking the knee’ or an officer wearing a badge on their uniform, can easily be interpreted by others as an expression of a partisan political view," he said.

"Such acts must always be avoided by police officers and their leaders and this should be made clear in both national and local guidance," added Spencer.

Former police officer Harry Miller speaks to the media outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Dec. 20, 2021. (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

In 2021, former policeman Harry Miller, who is a member of the organisations Fair Cop and the Bad Law Project, won a legal case against the College of Policing to ensure that any future recording of non-crime hate incident does not disproportionately interfere with the legal right to speak one's mind.

A hate incident is "any non-crime incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice."

'The Dumbing up of the Police'

"The College of Policing is as an indoctrination factory. That's it," Miller told The Epoch Times. "They've no interest in what you or I would call traditional policing. They are formalising the removal of common sense and replacing it with ideology."

Miller criticised the 2020 College of Policing policy of recruiting those with degrees.

"It's definitely the dumbing up of the police. The College of Policing has set out to find people that have no common sense but who know how to follow the guidance," he said.

Miller said he believes there is now a turning point, spurred on by his legal win.

"It's a slow slow turn. We need to keep a hand on the rudder on what Policy Exchange said, as the more of us who call out this corrupt organisation, the more chance it has to be shut down. I use the word 'corrupt' in its purest form, not financially fiddling the books, but they are corrupting by design the first principles of policing," he said.

"The reason that crime is going up is that the public has lost their confidence in the police and so have the criminals. There is no longer the fear in a burglar that he will have his collar felt because he knows full well that the police are off doing the Macarena somewhere," said Miller.

The Epoch Times contacted The College Of Policing for comment.