§ 3.50 p.m.
§ Debate resumed.
THE LORD BISHOP OF WORCESTERMy Lords, as one who has always lived under the pressure of economic circumstances, I can appreciate the need for a general reduction in public expenditure, but there are surely areas in our public life where expenditure becomes insurance and therefore the keeping up of our 1368 premiums a wise policy. I should have thought that the police come into this category. There are signs to-day that there are improvements in recruiting, and with the development of new techniques of prevention and detection, the police are just beginning to keep the rate of the incidence of crime under control. Any blow to police prestige and manpower is bound to halt this progress. I think it is bound to be acknowledged that, unfortunately, due to various reasons the police have suffered a deterioration in the confidence shown in them by the public. What is needed now is not undue economy in recruitment, but a marked gesture of confidence to raise their morale. Nothing could do this better than making an exception of them in the economy drive. The total sum, as has been suggested, is not very great whereas the effect of the cuts might undermine and even destroy confidence.
I think it is important to realise and to notice the changing character of police relationships with the public, and this is a matter to which the police themselves are giving the most careful attention; and in this there has been very close cooperation with the Churches. I do not know whether your Lordships are aware that, on the initiative of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, a Commission was set up under the chairmanship of the Bishop of Birmingham which has produced a most valuable report under the title Police—a Social Study. This Report deals with certain matters such as where the police and the public meet, the object of laws, the rights of the civil authorities, standards in society today, the policeman's life, and responsibility for law and order in a changing society. The Commission remains in being and, under the auspices of the British Council of Churches, a permanent committee of police and Church representatives is continuing the work of the Commission.
Already a number of courses have been planned at the William Temple College at Rugby. These are, first of all, for key police officers who are dealing with the changes in society and their effects on the Police Service. By a very happy coincidence, yesterday I travelled down in a train with my own chief constable, who had been attending one of these courses, and he spoke of their value. Other 1369 courses are to follow for clergy, ministers, social workers, sociologists and lawyers, with a view to broadening the bases of that peace and public order which is consistent with necessary social change. The object of this exercise, as I see it, is threefold. It is, first of all, to create the means whereby social developments are responsibly handled by the police and the public in partnership; secondly, to encourage and educate the public to realise that they are responsible for the maintenance of law and order assisted by the police rather than the reverse; and, thirdly, to work out with the police and the law-makers the proper relationship between law and morality. We had an example in the debate yesterday of the problem of law and morality, which led me to feel that if I was not careful I should have to say on Sunday: "Thou shalt not steal with the exception that you can take something as long as it is not permanently taken from the other".
I would suggest that all this is a very important new phenomenon in the whole field of police and public relationships, and it is regarded so in fact by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Superintendents' Association, the Police Federation, and the Home Office Police Department, all of whom, with representatives of the Churches, are co-operating on the committee to which I referred. I trust indeed that your Lordships will forgive me for what might seem to be a deviation from the terms of the Motion we are discussing this afternoon, but I have mentioned them as I believe they are somewhat relevant, because surely the more responsible a policeman can be made to feel and the more he understands the basic social and moral reasons for his work the better he can do that work, and the more society will value his presence.
It would seem to me to be most depressing to both the police, who are fine body of men and women, and the public, just when we are beginning to see the possibilities of a real partnership being established, that economies in manpower and recruitment of a substantial character should even be thought of. It is surely a situation in which a small amount of money can do a great deal of harm, if withheld, and a tremendous amount of good, if granted.
§ 3.57 p.m.
§ LORD ROWLEYMy Lords, I think your Lordships' House is grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Brooke of Cumnor, for raising this particular debate. We had a debate, as he mentioned, on November 29, when all aspects of the problem of crime were discussed, and I certainly do not propose to go over the same ground this afternoon. May I also say at the beginning to my noble friend Lord Stonham that while I am somewhat concerned, if not discouraged, by the announcement that was recently made by the Home Secretary, like the noble Lord, Lord Shawcross, I fully realise the difficulties facing the Government. While I fully support all the economic measures which the Government are taking to restore our economy and to secure an eventual surplus in our trade balance, I none the less find it difficult to understand why they should pick out the particular aspect of our national life centering on the police force.
I propose this afternoon, in the very few minutes I am going to take up your Lordships' time, to deal with the position in the metropolis. In my view, and I think the figures support my assertion, the waves of crime that have swept over our country during the last ten or twenty years have swept most heavily over the Metropolitan Area. Both the noble Lords, Lord Brooke and Lord Shaw-cross, gave us some statistics. I am going to give another set of statistics. The number of indictable offences in the Metropolitan Area went up from 110,000 in 1955 to 282,000 in 1965. That is an increase of 160 per cent. It is an appalling thought that in this country of ours, which has the reputation throughout the world of being one of the most law abiding nations, we should have this record of crime. Not all of them were crimes of violence; they include all indictable offences, the largest proportion being crimes of larceny. None the less, as the noble Lord, Lord Shawcross, pointed out, there has been a very discouraging increase in crimes of violence in the Metropolitan Area during the past few years.
The Metropolitan Police Force, as the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, said, is 23 per cent. below the establishment of 25,000. In 1955, which in a sense saw the beginning of this great wave of crimes, the 1371 Metropolitan Police Force mustered something like 16,500. It is now up to about 19,000 but, as the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, pointed out, it is still 23 per cent. below strength—23 per cent. below strength so far as the police force is concerned, with 164 per cent. increase in the number of indictable crimes.
Accepting that it is quite impossible for the Government to revise their declaration that the police forces of the country are not going to be allowed to increase their strength by more than 1,200 during the next 15 months, I should like to ask the Government whether it would not be possible to reconsider that ceiling in so far as it applies to the metropolis of London and therefore to the Metropolitan Police Force. I do not know whether administratively that would be possible. Surely, if we accept the view, as the statistics seem to indicate, that crime is worse in London than in any other part of the country, possibly in all other parts put together, would it not be possible to say, "So far as the metropolis is concerned we will allow the Commissioner of Police to recruit as many new entrants as is possible"?
My disagreement with the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, is that I am not sure that had the Government not imposed this ban, nevertheless there would have been any substantial increase in the number of recruits, because, as he knows, over the years 1955 to 1965 the Metropolitan Police Force itself was increased by only 17 per cent. That covers a period of 10 years. None the less, the fact that the police authorities are forbidden to recruit more than a total of 1,200 over the next 15 months seems to me to suggest that the efforts of the police authorities to combat this crime wave will be quite seriously retarded. If we accept the view that the best way of dealing with crime is by prevention through detection, the more police we have the better and more effective our methods of detection will be.
On the other hand, I am quite prepared to admit to my noble friend that unlimited numbers of policemen are not sufficient. There has to be not only an adequate supply of police officers, but also operational efficiency. The Police Commissioner's Report of last year states that 300 police officers have been supplied with portable radios. I believe that is 1372 one valuable way of improving the efficiency of detection. Can he tell us what is the position to-day? Because if the numbers of police officers are to be restricted, surely it is all the more important to increase the operational efficiency of those who are now in the police force, whether it be the Metropolitan Police Force or the police forces of any other part of the country. Therefore, perhaps he can tell us what progress is being made in regard to the number of portable radios which are carried by individual police officers on the unit beat to which my noble friend Lord Shawcross referred. It seems to me vital that, in these days of mobility of the criminal, this one method of operational efficiency should be as widespread as possible.
One has to remember that even 25,000 police officers in the metropolis of London is not something that should be considered an exaggerated number. I believe that the population of London is about the same as that of New York. To-day, the strength of the New York police is 25,000 as against the 19,000 in the metropolis of London. Therefore the recruitment of more police officers for London as well as for the Provinces seems to me a matter of the greatest urgency, if we are going successfully to combat this great surge of crime which is disfiguring our national life at the present time.
One more point. Can my noble friend say what is the policy of the Government with regard to coloured policemen? I spend a certain amount of time in the United States and in various parts of the Commonwealth. My experience is that, wherever there are substantial coloured populations, whether it be in our own Commonwealth or in the United States, there is, proportionate to the population, a substantial number of coloured policemen. According to a statement made the other day there are 12 coloured policemen in the whole of the United Kingdom. I know the problem of educational standards. I have talked this matter over with police officers in other countries. There is a difficulty with regard to educational standards; but I have seen enough of coloured policemen, both in the United States and recently in Jamaica, to form the opinion that they have the makings of good policemen.
§ LORD STONHAMMy Lords, I wonder whether my noble friend would allow me to answer that point now, in case there should be any question about it before I wind up the debate. The policy of Her Majesty's Government in this matter is that there should be no discrimination whatsoever, and the qualifications for entry have no reference at all to the colour of a person's skin. With regard to education, of course it is not merely a question of normal, formal education, but living here for a time is most important; and we think, and certainly hope, that we shall have a far greater number of policemen of colour in the police forces when those who at least have been educated here from youth, or were even born here, are old enough to join the forces and have the necessary background. But apart from that, there is no discrimination at all. We welcome them.
§ LORD ROWLEYMy Lords, I hope I was not suggesting that there was any discrimination. What I was seeking to elucidate from my noble friend, and I have succeeded, is the policy of the Government in relation to the enrolment of coloured policemen in this country. May I just say that what he has said would, I think, satisfy a good many of those who may have had doubts about what is the policy of the Government. Finally, may I urge this one further point on my noble friend. This ban is for fifteen months. Can we be assured that it is almost certain that at the end of the fifteen months the ban will be removed, and that steps will be taken to launch a recruiting drive to help the police forces of the country to build up their strength so as once more to become a potent factor in dealing with the problem of crime?