<URL:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4394862.stm>
Report blasts policing standards
Low entrance requirements mean police are ill-equipped to combat crime,
a think-tank report has concluded.
Politeia warned bright officers leave and those who seem incompetent and
unable to inspire confidence stay on.
Ex-Chief Inspector of Schools Chris Woodhead contributed to the report,
calling for better training and tougher entrance requirements.
Politeia said graduates should be fast-tracked. The Home Office said
they were increasingly joining the police.
And it said some recommendations, such as more flexible recruitment
practices, were already being considered.
'Below GCSE'
But Mr Woodhead told the BBC he was shocked by the police entrance tests.
"They are way below GCSE," he said.
"And you know that GCSE is not exactly a mind-stretching examination
these days.
"What we should be looking for is young men and women with courage,
integrity, common sense, the ability to seize the initiative in a
threatening situation.
"Nevertheless they have got to stand up in court and they have got to
have the intelligent nous to be able to deal with a complex of facts.
"There are issues about the academic ability of new entrants to the
profession."
He said the quality of leadership should be improved.
'Appear incompetent'
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent Danny Shaw said the report was highly
critical of the requirements for police recruitment.
A low standard of education was all that was needed, together with a
number of vague skills and aptitudes, it said.
"The result is that the most able find careers elsewhere," Danny Shaw added.
"According to the study, the police service is left with officers who
may appear incompetent and are unable to inspire confidence in those
they serve."
One of the suggestions mooted was standing aside senior officers so that
people from other professions could take their place.
The authors of the study included former president of the Association of
Chief Police Officers Sir Anthony Burden and former prisons inspector
Lord Ramsbotham.
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