Our 2023 Cumberland Lodge Police Conference explores ideas of what makes good policing, and how the police can best deliver it.
A diverse delegation of senior police officers, academics, policymakers and practitioners will come together for three days for a thorough exploration of this topic through participatory sessions, with guest speakers. All discussion will take place under the Chatham House rule. We will explore:
- What are the police being asked to deliver and by whom?
- Are the police delivering what the public wants?
- Can we develop new ways of measuring and managing performance?
- What can we learn from those, inside and outside policing, who have successfully delivered results?
- What is the role of research and evidence in achieving the best outcomes?
This is the 41st event of the renowned Cumberland Lodge annual Police Conference and is being organised by the Police Foundation, the UK’s independent policing think tank.
Every summer, the conference convenes an influential, cross-sector gathering of speakers and delegates to stimulate fresh thinking on key issues regarding the relationship between the police and society. The conference is shaped by our expert Police Conference Steering Committee, chaired by Olivia Pinkney QPM, former Chief Constable of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary. This year the conference is being generously supported by Salesforce.
Context
In recent years we have seen growing concerns about the police being overstretched. The Home Office has recently declared that it has successfully met its 2019 target of recruiting 20,000 new police constables in England and Wales by the end of March 2023. However, although numbers of officers may have returned to 2010 levels, there remain concerns over the inexperience of the workforce, a shortage of skilled officers to fill specialist roles, the lack of back office staff and the fact that police forces are still not representative of the communities they serve.
The nature of the demand the police face is changing as traditional forms of crime (burglary, car theft, low level assaults and so on) have been replaced by new forms of crime and harm. The technological revolution has sparked increases in online crime and fraud, while social changes have led to increases in mental health related incidents and growing demands for previously marginalised forms of violence, abuse and exploitation to be taken seriously by the criminal justice system. Many of these new crimes take place digital realm or behind closed doors – yet police efficiency is still likely to be judged on the visible evidence of police action as well as the absence of crime and disorder – despite what the Peelian principles might say.
Coupled with this is the current crisis of legitimacy linked to falling detection rates and police misconduct, which has hindered the ability of the police do to their job effectively. It seems likely then that, despite the Uplift, the police will remain overstretched and police leaders will still have to make difficult decisions about how they prioritise between all of the competing demands the public place on them.
It is in this context that we will discuss who defines what the police should deliver and whether this matches what the public want from them. We will consider the best ways of measuring and managing performance without falling into the target culture of the past. We will also learn from those who have already delivered results to explore how we can build on best practice to achieve positive outcomes for the public in a complex world.
Report
Key themes of discussion and cross-sector recommendations from this conference will be presented in Autumn 2023 in a Police Foundation report.
The draft report will be reviewed and refined during an expert consultation, before being launched in central London and published online and in print. Conference delegates will have the chance to be listed as contributors to the report.
Participation
We warmly welcome all registrations of interest in attending, but attendance is by invitation only, to ensure a broad and balanced representation.
Accommodation and all meals are provided throughout the conference, as part of the ticket price.
If you would like to join this conference, please email ruth.halkon@police-foundation.org.uk or braffangowar@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk if you would like to contribute.
For our cancellation policy, please see the PDF download on this page.