The Bobby Lobby: Police Associations and the Policy Process

Abstract

There are particular sensitivities regarding the interface between British policing and the political process. Unique in the public services, policing is, at least in principle, governed by the constitutional doctrine of ‘operational independence’ generally referred to as constabulary independence (Lustgarten, 1986). While the primary thrust of this doctrine is to inhibit any attempt by external political authorities to seek to control or even influence policing policies - these are to be the exclusive province of chief police officers themselves - the discourse surrounding constabulary independence (Savage et al., 1999) draws a more general demarcation line between the world of policing and the world of politics. Not only must politics not impinge on policing but also the police must not become embroiled in politics. The apparent quid pro quo of constabulary independence is the notion that the police should not in turn dabble in political affairs. However, not only is the concept of constabulary independence itself hugely contentious (Lustgarten, 1986), the idea that the British police have managed to stay aloof from politics is, to say the least, problematic.