Provision and Payment for Special Police Services

The police service is usually financed from public funds to benefit the public. Nonetheless, there are various activities in which the service is allowed by law to charge persons or organizations to recoup costs associated with the delivery of their services. Since the service has limited resources and the provision of every service has a cost implication, it is critical to ensure that they levy the charges properly, to strike a balance between providing police services and its funding. The report constitutes an evaluation of various events that coincide in one holiday regarding the offering of special police services based on relevant principles.

The Law and Principles Covering Provision of Special Police Services

Charging for policy services follows specific statutory guidelines. The Police Act 1996 outlines various areas in which the above applies. Section 25 of the Act outlines that Police & Crime Commissioners (PCCs) have the authority to determine the charges to be paid for the provision of special police services . Such services are associated with policing events such as pop music concerts and football matches. Also, Section 26 of the Act outlines identical requirements for the provision of services provided abroad. Other areas include the provision of services to agencies such as the prison service or the border agency, and offering mutual aid to different forces.

The statutory responsibility for the financing of the police force lies with the PCC as it approves the annual budget and determines the local guidelines . Subsequently, it delegates the role of managing the finances of the force to the Chief Constable. Therefore, the PCC should develop a structure of financial regulations and policies in conjunction with the Chief Constable as part of the delegated responsibility, which should include the processes and policies for charging for the special services. The Chief Constable should evaluate and select the events that should enjoy the services based on a risk-based approach to help the PCC in establishing a charging policy. Besides, the Chief Constable has the mandate to execute the policy within the stated terms of delegation and determine the responsibilities to delegate to individual force managers.

Charging for police services requires the adoption of an accurate cost recording and allocation approach. The police service should have a robust financial system, which is a critical foundation for costing. First, there must be a standard approach adopted by the service to ensure that variances in costs and charges portray the actual cost differences between forces. A standard approach incorporates guidelines that cover items such as basic pay, allowances, overtime, ancillary costs, deployable time, recovery of overheads, and productive time . Consequently, a decision is reached on the factors that constitute the cost that will be reflected in the actual charges for the delivery of services in varying circumstances . For instance, charges could be limited to the recouping of direct costs of a service or be determined based on the full economic cost. Therefore, the costing model determines the derivation of costs based on set parameters, which are subsequently used in the charging policy.

Every PCC is supposed to develop a charging policy based on local circumstances. Nonetheless, there are various key principles that underpin the creation of such a policy. The changing should be consistent with the guidelines for stewarding public funds, and should be adopted in the context of the PCCs funding position. Besides, the policy should be founded on national guidance, the overall objectives of the PCC, and suitable accountability requirements to ensure that only the entity responsible for a service meets its costs. Private bodies and individuals should not benefit at the expense of the police service, and the policy should be transparent and clear to the recipients and providers of the service. The charging policy should be applied consistently and the charges should be determined based on a sound costing method. There should be only one basis for the calculations of these costs to ensure that any considerable variations are due to the impact of local circumstances rather than differences in methodology . Generally, all practitioners should have clarity about the charging policy and costing methodology.

The cost of services and the applicable charging are interlinked. However, the purpose of the use of the services often determine its cost. There are various basic costing approaches that are associated with the provision of the police services. First, employable cost entails the actual cost incurred by a service provider, which encompasses on-costs without the inclusion of an allowance to recover overheads. Direct cost refers to the cost of each officer with the inclusion of the recovery of a standard overtime component. Operational resource cost refers to the cost of the resources utilized by a service provider, which includes both direct costs and overheads. Lastly, full economic cost encompasses all costs that can be properly attributed to specific administrative or overhead bases.

The different cost bases serve differing purposes and aim at differing outcomes. Therefore, it is important to clarify why they are adopted and how they are utilized. Ideally, the application of costing and charging of special policing services should demonstrate recovery based the full economic cost. The situation applies where police resources are availed to offer these services in commercial events. However, there are different circumstances where the cost bases will necessitate the use of alternative costing approaches for the recovery. Overall, the charging methodology should be consistent with the cost structure adopted in the delivery of service . For instance, there should be a specified way of identifying direct costs in the delivery of police service in a certain area, which should also be used in recovering general overheads. A critical principle is to utilize national or force averages to lower any distortions that may be portrayed by local cost characteristics.

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Charging for Different Events

Offering special police service for an event should be founded on meeting additional policing needs beyond what is usually used to police a location. Besides, the locality of an event should be considered especially when it introduces significant or substantial alterations. It is a critical element in understanding how an event is organized, which requires to be identified in the agreement between the police force and the event organizer. The description of a locality should be aimed at providing proper protection or benefits to the persons organizing or attending the event and should not focus on the general public. Section 25 of the Act also states that the definition of a location should apply to a site where several events will occur in succession such as sporting events . The costing of the three events and subsequent charging will depend on the category in which an event falls, which can be a commercial, non-commercial, or statutory events.

Private Birthday at a Cricket Club

Sues parents, Rita and Bob have organized her 21st birthday party at the local Cricket Club. Although the event is an invite-only and will be held in a private property, they are worried that drunk individuals leaving bars and clubs may find their way into the party whose organization may be posted in a social media platform and disrupt it. Although similar events organized in the Cricket Club in the past years have not experienced major disturbances, Sues parents want the police to be present between 12:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. to prevent any trouble.

Sues party is a private event, which is not open to the public whose organizers have determined that it requires the provision of police services. In this case, there is no promoter and the event does not require a safety certificate or license. Besides, there are no stewards and the invitees do not need to make a payment to attend it. The event is funded by the parents, is not for profit, and has no charitable component. However, the lack of stewards indicates a need for police resources as the event will have a detrimental impact on the community due to the high number of attendees who will increase traffic moderately. The event does not have any community value and will require significant addition of police resources especially due to the many attendees and the anticipated intrusion from outsiders. Since the event will require police deployment, which would otherwise be unnecessary, the force should recover full cost .

Hereford Town FC vs. Blackwater FC

The event is an FA Cup encounter between an amateur and professional side, which is likely to draw a lot of spectators into the stadium. Having drawn the professional side Blackwater FC whose fans have a history of hooliganism, Hereford are skeptical that its fans will cause trouble in the stadium and local bars before, during, and after the game. The suspicion is shared by the Licensed Victuallers Association who fear the visiting fans may cause trouble in their pubs. The local football club has requested for an additional six officers who will be placed inside of the stadium besides the usual two officers who are normally outside the ground and the police car that directs traffic. The alcohol sellers also want more police presence in the town center.

The event constitutes a football match that requires police services. Hereford is events promoter and will require a safety certificate for the ground. It is unclear whether the football club has stewards inside the ground but fans will pay to watch the match. Therefore, Hereford is organizing a for-profit event and none of the collected funds will be directed to charitable causes. Since fans of the visiting team will use coaches and trains to get into the town, there will be considerable detrimental impact on the community due to traffic congestion and the anticipated disorder. However, the event has community value due to the FA Cup clash with a professional side. The event will require additional police resources beyond what is provided normally in community policing and regular matches; thus, the police should recover full cost .

Needy Kids Park Festival

Needy Kids is an organization that has organized a two-day charity music concert featuring major artists. The aim of the festival is to raise funds to alleviate poverty among children. The organizations CEO anticipates that the organization will be able to control the crowds during the family event on Sunday but may be overwhelmed by traffic. However, Mondays concert will be an adult affair, which may encourage drug use among revelers. Therefore, the organization is seeking police services to control traffic on Sunday and to place a mobile station to facilitate the processing of arrested drug peddlers on Monday. Since the police force is dedicated to the prevention of drug use, the Chief Constable is willing to provide plain clothed officers on both days.

The music festival constitutes a major event with the aim to raise money for charity. Needy Kids is the events promoter but it does not require a safety certificate or a premises license since it will be held in a park. The organization will engage stewards for crowd control, which lowers the number of police resources that it needs. The festival goers will pay to watch the paid performers. However, the event is not for profit as the proceeds will be directed towards charity. There is a detrimental effect on the local community due to more traffic, noise pollution, and the anticipated disorder associated with drug use. The event will require the addition of significant police resources beyond what is required for usual community policing; thus, full cost recovery is appropriate.

Conclusion

The policing of events is associated with Section 25 of the 1996 Police Act. The Chief Constable has the main responsibility of selecting the special services that will benefit from the services while the PCC establishes the relevant charges. The determination of the need for policing is a role conducted by the Chief Constable in conjunction with an event organizer based on the circumstances that are associated with the request. The ultimate decision will be the basis of the charges for an event even though exceptional events may require further consultation with the PCC based on guidelines outlined in the charging policy.

The police force should evaluate the safety needs in conjunction with all the relevant agencies to an event. In most cases, it collaborates with a local safety advisory agency. Ordinarily, the force deliberates the nature of an event with its organizer to lower the risks related to safety needs, which are mainly those of the event organizer. Nonetheless, safety is only one component of the responsibility as it is essential to determine the possible impact of an event on a community especially regarding crime, disorder, and traffic management. The outcome of the overall assessment may indicate the need for special police services to reinforce a safety license or certificate. The event organizer and the police must reach an agreement for the provision of the services, which are supplied to boost core policing to address crime and disorder problems because of the event or to increase the safety levels based on safety needs and risk assessments.