Police and GBA in limbo - Police Chief

Saturday 08 December 2018

A full merger of Guernsey Police and the Guernsey Border Agency would have been better for Law Enforcement as a whole, the first man to lead both bodies, Chief Officer Patrick Rice, has said.

The two main parts of Bailiwick Law Enforcement were brought under one senior management team nearly four years ago, and Patrick Rice was chosen to lead that team as Head of Bailiwick Law Enforcement. He was brought to the island to take up the role of Chief of Police before that.

But a report released by Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Constabularies has said the entire system is at an awkward "halfway house", and has not worked as effectively as it could.

Speaking in front of a scrutiny panel on Wednesday, Chief Officer Rice said, retrospectively, it would have been better to fully merge both bodies than to have done what they have.

"I think the limbo that the two arms find themselves in needs to be addressed," he said.

"A more adventurous decision should have been made, and there should have been a full merger. I didn't think that at the time, and the States would have needed to agree, but in retrospect it would have been a better decision."

Pictured: Patrick Rice in front of the Scrutiny Panel. That Scrutiny hearing was called following the release of the surprisingly critical HMICFRS report. 

Chief Officer Rice retires at the end of the year, and will be replaced by his current colleague Sup Ruari Hardy. But ahead of his final couple of weeks in post, Mr Rice criticised his political colleagues for operational interference, something he has not done before now. 

The Scrutiny Panel Mr Rice was being questioned by also asked him about his staff's morale - an area that needs improving, according to the report. He acknowledged there was a "significant lack of morale" among law enforcement personnel, which he blamed mostly on the poor ICT systems, but also the merger.

For now, a full merger is not part of Home Affairs long term strategy plans, but it could be something that is done down the line. There has been a suggestion of a relocation of the police station in the future, and a transformation like that could see steps taken to bring both the Guernsey Border Agency and the Guernsey Police into one body. 

Any plans like this could be produced in upcoming documents from Home Affairs, which they will be working on at the recommendation of the report. One of those will likely be a medium term financial plan, something Chief Officer Rice said would have been helpful at the start of this political term.

Pictured: Patrick Rice, Head of Bailiwick Law Enforcement.