Association of Chief Police Officers

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The Association of Chief Police Officers Of England, Wales and Northern Ireland is a membership body made up largely of senior police officers. Although not a public body, it exercises an important strategic role in policing.

Role

Although a membership body, ACPO emphasises that it is not a staff association. This role is exercised by the separate Chief Police Officers' Association.[1]

THe ACPO website states:

In the public interest and, in equal and active partnership with Government and the Association of Police Authorities, ACPO leads and coordinates the direction and development of the police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In times of national need ACPO - on behalf of all chief officers - coordinates the strategic policing response.[2]

Structure

ACPO describes itself as "an independent, professionally led strategic body."[3] It operates as a private company limited by guarantee, governed by a board of directors.[4]

This status has given rise to some criticism given the Association's strategic role. For example, the Guardian's Henry Porter has written:

despite its important role in drafting and implementing policies that affect the fundamental freedoms of this country, ACPO is protected from freedom of information requests and its proceedings remain largely hidden from public view. In reality ACPO is no more troubled by public scrutiny than the freemasons.[5]

Membership

ACPO describes its membership as follows:

ACPO's members are police officers who hold the rank of Chief Constable, Deputy Chief Constable or Assistant Chief Constable, or their equivalents, in the forty four forces of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, national police agencies and certain other forces in the UK, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, and certain senior non-police staff. There are presently 280 members of ACPO.[6]

Funding and finances

According to its website, ACPO is funded "by a combination of a Home Office grant, contributions from each of the 44 Police Authorities, membership subscriptions and by the proceeds of its annual exhibition."[7]

A Mail on Sunday investigation in February 2009 claimed that the organisation has an £18 million annual income. Of this £15 million came from project work for the Home Office and Police.[8]

This was supplemented by a number of other business ventures examined by the Mail including ACRO – the ACPO Criminal Records Office.

According to the National Police Improvement Agency, which runs the Police National Computer, ACPO is charged 60p for each search.
However, ACPO charges the public up to £70 for its ‘premium service’, while its standard service – which takes ten days – costs £35.[9]

Another ACPO offshoot identified by the Mail was ACPO Crime Prevention Initiatives Ltd.

The company, which charges manufacturers to approve their crime-prevention products such as burglar alarms and blast doors, had a turnover of £981,500 last year.
The firm’s accounts show that it made a healthy surplus of £225,000 on that income and paid its directors £107,000.
The firm issues Secured by Design licences and advertises the approved firms’ telephone numbers and other contact details on the ACPO website.[10]

A third ACPO business highlighted by the Mail was Road Safety Support Ltd:

An independent affiliate of ACPO, the firm also provides expert witnesses to combat ‘loophole’ lawyers attempting to beat speeding offences. It also provides training to speed camera operators.
The chairman of RSS is Meredydd Hughes, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire. He was formerly the chairman of ACPO’s roads policing group but stood down following a driving ban after being caught on camera speeding at 90mph.[11]

According to the Mail, Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty criticised ACPO's lack of accountability and suggested its growing commercial activities could be illegal.[12]

People

Terrorism & Allied Matters

Affiliations

Subsidiaries

Contact details, Resources, Notes

Contact

External Resources

Notes

  1. ↑ About Us, Association of Chief Police Officers, accessed 12 February 2009.
  2. ↑ Association of Chief Police Officers, ACPO homepage, accessed 12 February 2009.
  3. ↑ Association of Chief Police Officers, ACPO homepage, accessed 12 February 2009.
  4. ↑ About Us, Association of Chief Police Officers, accessed 12 February 2009.
  5. ↑ The secret police are watching you, by Henry Porter, Comment Is Free, guardian.co.uk, 10 February 2009.
  6. ↑ About Us, Association of Chief Police Officers, accessed 12 February 2009.
  7. ↑ About Us, Association of Chief Police Officers, accessed 12 February 2009.
  8. ↑ Jason Lewis, Body in charge of UK policing policy is now an £18m-a-year brand charging the public £70 for a 60p criminal records check, MailOnline, 15 February 2009.
  9. ↑ Jason Lewis, Body in charge of UK policing policy is now an £18m-a-year brand charging the public £70 for a 60p criminal records check, MailOnline, 15 February 2009.
  10. ↑ Jason Lewis, Body in charge of UK policing policy is now an £18m-a-year brand charging the public £70 for a 60p criminal records check, MailOnline, 15 February 2009.
  11. ↑ Jason Lewis, Body in charge of UK policing policy is now an £18m-a-year brand charging the public £70 for a 60p criminal records check, MailOnline, 15 February 2009.
  12. ↑ Jason Lewis, Body in charge of UK policing policy is now an £18m-a-year brand charging the public £70 for a 60p criminal records check, MailOnline, 15 February 2009.
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