ABSTRACT
During my police career the leadership of the service has been the subject of constant scrutiny and debate (Home Office 2001; Audit Commission Reports; HMCIC Reports; Leishman et al. 1995: 26–38; Reiner 1991). Throughout that time the police service has undergone tremendous change and demands upon the organisation have increased greatly. Many attempts have been made by successive governments to develop and improve the management of the police service, yet I would argue that in this area change has probably been least welcome and successful (Home Office 1993a, b). It was The Guardian newspaper that said of senior management of the police service, ‘when fish start to rot, they rot from the head … most senior officers are technically competent [but] they tend to lack officerlike qualities’ (The Guardian, 26 January 1990). Other derogatory comments appeared in the press around this time, which exerted additional pressure on a police service under siege. For example, in 1992 The Economist had this to say about police management: ‘the police need an officer class to stiffen their fibre. The police are the last of the old style trade unions; over-manned; overpaid and riddled with restrictive practices. Clearly, police bashing is no longer a monopoly of the loony left’ (The Economist, 8 February 1992).
