"Which way's north"

Police Basic Command Units (BCUs) are becoming more autonomous and more accountable. Their performance is measured directly by the Home Office; they are responsible for performance of Crime & Disorder Reduction Strategies; they manage their own assets, finances and human resources; they are due to be inspected directly by HMIC and they operate in unique environments with their own customers and stakeholders. More than ever, the strategic management of BCUs is an area central to improving police performance.

However, some key questions about the strategic management of BCUs exist: How is the role of BCU Commanders changing? How skilled are BCU Commanders in strategic management? What are the barriers to effective strategic management? How is BCU strategy currently developed and implemented and what is best practice? To answer these questions research under a Bramshill Fellowship was conducted through a postal questionnaire of all 318 BCU Commanders in England and Wales. The research highlighted 9 key findings:

• The role of the BCU Commander is changing from an operational to strategic manager • 85% of BCU Commanders consider it important to have a strategy independent of their Force • The Police Service lacks a vision setting out its desired future state • 80% of BCU Commanders consider strategic planning has a positive impact on BCU performance • BCU Commanders have a continuing development need in strategic management • 78% of BCU Commanders consider a strategic management model for developing and implementing BCU strategy would be useful • BCU strategy is primarily developed and implemented using “five favourite” strategic tools – PEST, SWOT, Performance Indicators, Action Planning and the EFQM Excellence Model • Strategic direction of BCUs is primarily set through strategic objectives • Where BCU Commanders understand strategic management tools, they are used; where they are used they are found to be useful

From the findings, the following recommendations are made:

• A clearly communicated vision setting out the desired future state of the Police Service • BCUs to develop strategies which address three perspectives: national and local performance objectives; key stakeholder needs; and continuous improvement of the BCU • The BCU Strategic Management Model, produced from the research, to be offered to BCU Commanders as best practice for developing and implementing BCU Strategy • Continued training and development of BCU Commanders in the area of strategic management, in particular “strategic thinking”, “strategy formulation” and “managing strategic change”