Sir Stephen Watson's three-step masterclass for turning a force around
Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, Sir Stephen Watson QPM, delivered an address this week at Policy Exchange. It's worth watching, but I've pulled out some highlights.
Earlier this week, Greater Manchester’s Chief Constable, Sir Stephen Watson QPM, delivered some remarks and answered some questions about his experience of freeing and focussing his officers and staff to fight crime and disorder in Manchester.
You can watch the full event, held at Policy Exchange, here - but I thought it important to draw out some of the highlights.
Straight out of the blocks, he turned his attention to policing having headed off “down all manner of rabbit hole” - “while neglecting the basics”.
He didn’t shy away from having a dig at the “soft and fluffy nonsense” that some chiefs, politicians and activists have (perhaps with good intentions) used to undermine and distract from policing’s core purpose: the prevention and detection of crime.
He struck an important optimistic note too - that change was possible, that in the hearts and heads of the majority of police officers and staff is a desire to fight crime and disorder on behalf of the public.
This neatly took us to the changes he had instituted in Greater Manchester Police, which be broadly grouped under three pillars:
1. Critical Success Factors in Turning Policing Around
Leadership - and improving it from top to bottom - was his opening line, coupled with having a plan - “a single point around which people can navigate” - to avoid people getting lost. For some, a blindingly obvious point, but one that needs stating.
An operating model which means “we all pull on the same end of the piece of rope”. A performance framework, “largely tethered to gerography”, that holds people properly to account for delivering for the public.
And, then Sir Stephen turned to attitude. Describing “defeatism, declinism and the idea that we can’t cope” as anathema. We need “positive, engaged leadership”. Not “Lotus positions and happy thoughts”, but focussing on what we can do, what we have got, and delivering in an assertive way.
“Attitude is crucial - it’s about the DNA and psychology of the organisation.”
It stands in stark contrast to the situation in too many police forces where middle management or senior leaders don’t even know what the plan is.
I certainly remember asking a Superintendent, notionally responsible for the policing of a geographic area, what the force and local priorities were - and being met by a long pause and a sheepish answer.
Or the Chief Constable who, when I asked what they were intending to do with their allocation of the 20,000 police uplift programme simply replied: “more of the same” - but without any confidence that it would achieve much at all.
2. The Vital Importance of Policing Getting the Basics Right
The second major emphasis from Watson was on “doing the basics”, “attended by quality, standards and behaviour.”
Sir Stephen enumerated the basics for all to hear: picking up the phone, getting to people, “turning up and looking like you can pull the skin off a rice pudding”.
It’s about being “smart, digiligent, compassionate” and “knowing the law”.
Showing the public you care and are hungry to help. People don’t call police for a chat, they call because there are bad things happening. It is about recording crime and investigating reasonable lines of inquiry for every single crime.
It’s about locking people up. And doing this with vim and vigour to demonstrate to the public you can be replied upon. And doing all we can to prevent bad things from happening in the first place, or repeatedly.
3. Neighbourhood Policing as the Foundation
Watson’s third pillar related to the reintroduction of “proper” neighbourhood policing as the cornerstone of GMP’s operating model. He was quick to accept that “it’s not the answer to everything”, but was just as quick to point out that “it’s part of the answer to everything”.
From counter-terrorism to serious organised crime - and much besides - he argued that without a first-class neighbourhood function you simply can’t hope to manage or cope.
With the Spending Review only just published, he also made the point that without a strong and effective neighbourhood policing foundation, you can’t hope to “live within your means”.
While others might have swiftly moved on, or else talked in vague terms about neighbourhood policing, Watson set out what “proper” neighbourhood policing should look like: oriented upstream of recurrent demand, enforcement-oriented, and taking a problem-solving approach.
His choice of “neighbourhood policing” rather than “community policing” was instructive too. He didn’t make the point explicitly, but implicitly it reveals a clear-eyed desire to see neighbourhood officers take ownership not of “communities” but of geographic neighbourhoods - mirroring his earlier point about accountability.
He articulated how neighbourhood policing gives you a real chance to manage deamand - to reduce it. Making the point that, “if you don’t grip demand, demand will grip you” leading you to becoming a “reactive farce”. That’s not a typo!
Watson painted a picture of such a farce - in which officers and staff find themselves chasing their tails in ever-decreasing circles - leading to poorer and poorer outcomes.
“In that melee, they will come to persuade themselves that they can’t do things”, Watson said. From investigating crimes like shop theft or criminal damage, to making any sort of dent in crime. He made plain that if a force discounts these volume crimes - committed by the majority of offenders - then criminals soon learn that they have nothing to fear from the police - and in consequence, crime will grow.
It felt and sounded like he was describing the real environment he had inherited when he was appointed Chief Constable. In similar vein, he delivered a further dose of punchy realism into proceedings:
“You don’t have to go to Cambridge to learn that if you have a crime problem, that if you arrest criminals, crime will fall.”
Summary and Reflections
It was a refreshing set of remarks after an extended period of time during which we’ve seen police chiefs often seem preoccupied with - in the words of Watson - “soft and fluffy nonsense” and/or the sort of virtue-signalling, defeatism and declinism that infuriates and alienates the public and workforce in equal measure.
As a member of the public, I liked what I heard. As a former police officer, I liked it too, and as a former neighbourhood police officer - I loved it.
It was a delight to see a Chief Constable speak so confidently and authentically about their vision and experience of policing in their force area. For neighbourhood policing to be framed within enforcement-oriented and problem-solving approaches was no less refreshing.
Too often, politicians, policymakers and the police themselves misapprehend the role and nature of neighbourhood policing.
If you don’t believe me, examine the College of Policing’s own ‘Neighbourhood Policing Guidance’ (2021) to see how “enforcement” is barely referenced (3 references - with mostly disparaging vibes). Squeezed out by an obssession with “engagement” (28 references - and awarded “Guideline #1” status: “Engaging communities”).
As I was once told by someone who should have known better:
“There’s no such thing as bad engagement.”
Sir Stephen’s conception of neighbourhood policing is altogether more effective and satisfying - for the public and officers alike. It’s also clearly happening, with Greater Manchester Police now accounting for 1 in 10 of all arrests in England and Wales.
There are some serious challenges looming for policing and the criminal justice system, not helped by the relatively ‘thin gruel’ awarded in the Spending Review, but it’s hard not to conclude that the forces led by crime-fighters, like GMP, will undoubtedly fare better - and do better for the public they serve.
And if, as many know, there are institutions, processes and other barriers that limit the supply of credible and competent crime-fighting leaders, then this or a future government would do well to sweep them all aside…