A report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), suggests that many police force within the UK are ill-equipped to deal with the communication needs during a potential emergency.
The report showed that one in 10 forces did not have “robust plans to mobilise officers” while more than 40% “failed adequately to test these plans in exercises”. “Enough forces deal with civil contingencies for HMIC to ask why a minority do not,” says the report.
Some force’s local approach to the issues led to a “fragmented, inconsistent approach” to emergency planning. Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire police’s appointment of a continuity manager was praised for helping them to avoid this problem. Some forces – Merseyside, British Transport Police and Leicestershire – are strong on learning from debriefs after civil emergency exercises, but others do not, “raising the risk that they will repeat past mistakes”.
The inspections took place between 2008 and 2009 and the report urges appropriate action to be taken before the 2012 Olympics comes to London. Read the report.
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