Career pathways in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

Report: 12
Date: 20 January 2005
By: Commissioner

Summary

To support the White Paper, ‘Building Communities, Beating Crime’, the MPS will be developing a range of Career Pathways for officers and staff. It is also increasingly likely that progress along the pathways will be marked by accreditation and qualification.

The case for streaming police officer recruits on recruitment is being re-examined in the light of the modernisation of probationer training.

Human Resources (HR) has already been working with Business Groups to develop a number of career pathways for police officers and police staff. The most advanced of the pathways are for investigation (mainly police officers) and analysts (mainly police staff).

There are a number of specialisms within the MPS, particularly for police staff, which also constitute “pathways” in the broadest sense.

HR is working with Business Groups to develop an IT-based guide to pathways, to assist officers and staff in managing and developing their own careers in the MPS.

The benefits of a career pathways approach is that it would: enhance skills in the particular area; provide a structured route for progression; provide transparency; allow individuals to see how they could develop laterally; and it could allow for greater flexibility in managing staff within and across pathways.

A. Recommendation

That members note the contents of this report.

B. Supporting information

1. The White Paper announces the Government’s intention that “all those working in the police service will have identifiable career pathways in which to develop their professional skills and have them accredited with the aim of ensuring that the competence of individuals is regularly assessed and maintained throughout their careers, and not just at the beginning”.

2. One of the great difficulties in developing career pathways for police officers in the past has been the concept of the “omni competence”. In order to function properly and to respond quickly to new challenges and threats, the police service has needed the facility to move police officers from one role to another. Consequently, officers have been trained and developed to have competence across a broad range of policing skills and functions, while having some scope for specialisation. The White Paper acknowledges that the difficulty remains, as it comments that “(T)he service has to meet a significant challenge in preserving the versatility which officers need for operational resilience and flexibility of forces whilst developing the range of skills needed for today’s police service”.

3. Over the past two years, the Home Office, working with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), has tried to develop a coherent philosophy on career pathways. While the philosophy has appeared within their grasp, the practical application has continued to frustrate progress, particularly in a large and complex force like the MPS. Vital elements in determining which pathways to develop and how many officers and staff to “allow” in each pathway are succession planning and horizon scanning. With regular changes in policing priorities, those elements are far from straightforward. The Home Office continue to research this area and we in the MPS have been invited to join a Home Office working party.

4. That said, two forces – Surrey and Kent – have introduced “streaming” of police officers on recruitment. In those forces, recruits are asked, when applying to join, whether they would like to specialise in: response policing; investigation; or community policing. At each quarter, Borough Command Unit (BCU) commanders are asked how many in each stream they would like, with their choice informed by the targets in their business plans and by their current priorities. Recruitment then seeks to harmonise the choice of career pathway with business need. Of course, not all recruits get their choice of pathway.

5. Due to the greater complexities in the MPS, as well as the national responsibilities that the MPS carries, streaming police officer recruits is not so straightforward in the MPS as it is in Kent and Surrey. A number of senior officers believe that the initial two-year grounding in general policing is indispensable to the proper exercise of the office of constable. However, greater and earlier specialisation within recruit training will develop in the context of the modernisation of probationer training. In the future, there will be a core of initial training for all new police officers, with early specialisation and specialist training. Recruits will obtain accreditation and qualification.

6. The White Paper indicates that “a formal qualifications framework” for the service “built on work-based assessment against national occupational standards” will be developed. The MPS will be engaged in the development work, alongside strategic partners such as the Home Office, ACPO and Skills for Justice. The MPS will seek to ensure that the framework is fit for purpose, adds value and does not impose an unnecessary bureaucracy.

7. While the strategic approach to career pathways is developed in partnership with the Home Office and ACPO, - the MPS has been developing a number of pathways for serving officers and staff. The most advanced pathway for officers is that of investigation, in the context of the Professionalising the Investigative Process (PIP). Indeed, in a phrase borrowed from an MPS Management Board paper last July, the White Paper states that PIP is “a model which we think can be applied in other areas of policing”. At Appendix 1, Members will find a description of PIP. From the description given, Members will readily see how this PIP might be the paradigm for other career pathways, such as response policing or reassurance policing. While it is for Business Groups to take the lead in developing other pathways, HR is seeking to initiate scoping exercises.

8. A second reasonably developed pathway is for analysts – both intelligence and performance analysts. For this pathway, it is mainly police staff that will benefit from a comprehensive approach to career development. Through using Role profiles, supported by National Occupational Standards for Intelligence Analysts, career paths are being designed to show how a person could start as a researcher and then progress through to becoming a senior analyst. The Career Management and Retention Unit (CMRU) in HR will by the end of March 2005, have built working Career Pathways models for the three areas of Investigation, Analysts and Intelligence.

9. Alongside the strategic development work, the CMRU are developing an intranet site called “MetPathways”, in consultation with Business Groups. On that site, a number of specialist roles or pathways have been set out, with each pathway including information on the role, qualifications, development postings and training. For any Member who is interested, CMRU would be happy to arrange a demonstration of this developing intranet site.

10. In the past, specialisation within police staff roles has been more advanced than in police officer roles. For example, the MPS has specialist lawyers, accountants, Information Technology (IT) staff, and finance managers. The White Paper states “there has been no clear pathway to progress into more senior roles within the service”. That is quite a generalisation and ignores the benefits available using the role profiles in the Integrated Competency Framework (ICF).

11. The Commissioner recently consulted senior police staff about their role and career development within the MPS. It was clear from the consultation that staff in some specialisms (e.g. IT and finance) may need development opportunities outside the MPS. HR will be working with Business Groups to facilitate such development opportunities. In addition, the consultation revealed that the benefits of the ICF are not widely understood and appreciated. HR will be working to improve understanding of the ICF throughout the MPS.

C. Equality and diversity implications

We recognise that women and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in some specialist fields in the MPS. As career pathways are developed, it will be vital to monitor the number of officers and staff on each pathway by ethnicity and gender. Where any disproportionality emerges, HR will work with the Business Group concerned to develop measures to attract underrepresented groups on to each pathway.

D. Financial implications

There are no immediate financial implications arising from this report. The work on developing career pathways will, in the immediate future, be contained within existing budgets.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Completed by Charles Phelps, Chief Superintendent. Career Management and Retention Unit. Drafted by Gordon Davison, Director HR People Development

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1: An introduction to 'Professionalising Investigation'

'Professionalising Investigation’ or PI is a major national initiative to professionalise investigation through levels of accreditation. Training, experience and knowledge of individuals is assessed and a level of accreditation awarded to those who satisfy the demands of the process.

PI has four levels of accreditation:

• Level 1 – Front line officers including Sergeants and Inspectors, and including those involved in roads policing investigation. It will later be extended to civilian investigators and police support staff involved in the investigation process, although their accreditation will only be in respect of the parts of the investigation process relevant to their role.
• Level 2 – Officers (and later civilian investigators) who have achieved Level 1 accreditation have received nationally recognised investigative training and are involved in the investigation of volume and/or serious crime and road death investigations.
• Level 3 – Traditionally investigators referred to as Senior Investigating Officers (SIOs) investigating difficult or complex cases, for example, homicide, corporate deaths, deaths in custody.
• Level 4 – Officers in overall command of cross border linked and serious crime and offences of such magnitude their impact in the community is so grave it is likely to massively undermine the confidence of the community.

The present position is that there is a lack of clarity about what is required for each role in the investigation process, together with inconsistent investigative standards and poor attrition rates. By providing clear guidance as to what is required at each stage of an investigation, there will be increased accountability in investigations, improved public confidence and improved detection and attrition rates.

The accreditation process will provide tangible recognition of investigative skills, with the aim of establishing a Professional Policing Institute of Investigators in 2004. Accreditation will be to a national standard and will be an achievement recognised by all forces in England and Wales. Accreditation will form an important part of the Personal Development Review (PDR) process.

It is intended that the accreditation of investigators will go live across all of England and Wales in April 2004, but the MPS is being used as a key site to test the process beforehand.

SCD1 and SCD5, within the Serious Crime Directorate (SCD) and, the Boroughs of Hackney and Richmond, have been designated as pathfinder sites. Accreditation of SIOs at Level 3 will begin on these Operational Command Units (OCUs) on 14 July 2003, followed shortly after by accreditation at Levels 1 and 2.

An MPS PI website is being established within the SCD Policy Unit intranet site. This provides details about the accreditation process, together with downloadable documentation and reference points to assist in learning.

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