Police Authorities
From SR
Roles
A police authority in the United Kingdom is a body charged with securing efficient and effective policing of an area served by a territorial police force or the area and/or activity policed by a special police force.
A police authority is an independent body made up of local people.
The police authority’s job is to make sure that you have an efficient and effective local police force.
The police authority sets the strategic direction for the force and holds the chief constable to account on behalf of the local community. Delivering policing services is the job of the chief constable.
The police authority:
- Holds the police budget and decides how much council tax should be raised for policing
- Appoints (and dismisses) the chief constable and senior police officers
- Consults widely with local people to find out what they want from their local police
- Sets local policing priorities based on what local people say matters to them and targets for achievement
- Monitors everything the police do and how well they perform against the targets set by the authority
- Publishes a 3 year plan and an annual plan which tells local people what they can expect from their police service and reports back at the end of the year
- Makes sure local people get best value from their local police
- Oversees complaints against the police and disciplines senior officers
Structure
There is a police authority for each local police force - 43 in all in England and Wales – plus an additional one for British Transport Police. In Northern Ireland the police authority is called the Policing Board but it has a similar role to police authorities in England and Wales
All police authorities are members of the Association of Police Authorities.
