The Association of Police Authorities (APA) has dismissed think-tank claims that police forces are not accountable enough to local communities. A new report published by the IPPR this week, entitled A new beat: Options for more accountable policing, claimed there was an ‘accountability deficit' in policing, and local communities should have more say about priorities set by their forces. The report called on the Government to introduce a variety of measures to improve accountability, including direct elections to police authorities. ‘The IPPR claims there is an accountability deficit in policing,' said APA chairman, Cllr Bob Jones. ‘But nothing could be further from the truth. Local councillors make up more than half the membership of police authorities. ‘Our membership also includes independent community members and, as a result, police authorities are far more reflective of the local communities they serve, compared with local councils,' added Cllr Jones. ‘This report fails to recognise the significant achievements of police authorities on behalf of communities across England and Wales, including overseeing massive falls in crime of 42% since the mid-1990s.' The Government is expected to publish a Green Paper on police reform next week. The IPPR report also called for introducing directly-elected mayors and giving them powers to hold the police to account, as well as giving councils the power to approve local policing strategies. ‘Recent efforts to increase police accountability to the Home Office through central targets have had only limited success and have made policing less responsive to local needs and circumstances,' said IPPR senior research fellow, Guy Lodge. ‘At the local level, weak and remote police authorities do not provide an effective check on police performance.'
