Working Time and Wellbeing in the Police Service: Practical Steps to Monitor, Manage and Balance the Working Hours/Working Lives of Police Inspectors

目前，许多警察检查员的工作时间过长，损害了他们的个人健康和福祉、他们的家庭和社会关系，以及英国警察服务的有效性。虽然这是这个等级长期存在的问题，《全面开支审查》最近将检查员的数量削减了8%以上(2009年至2011年)，警察部门因缺乏韧性和较高级别的时间饥荒而日益捉襟见肘(伦敦骚乱期间就证明了这一点)。我们与英格兰和威尔士警察联合会和苏格兰警察联合会的研究已经确定了问题的性质和程度-检查员的工作时间没有系统或准确地记录下来，每周超过48小时的工作有四分之一以上(可访问：http://policeinspectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Time-for-Justice-report-low-res.pdf).更重要的是，警务督察面临特别高的“职业倦怠”风险，因为“超越职责范围”的工作既非完全自愿的(警务人员可被命令按照“紧急职务”工作)，亦非获得公平的报酬(在1994年，加班已被“买断”合约，“买断”已不再被视为对他们必须执行的工作时数/职责的足够报酬，而大多数督察发现，即使不是不可能，也很难在随后的轮班期间缩短工作时间，以“挽回”过多的工作时数)。检查员对工作时间的关注因《警官和工作人员薪酬和条件独立审查》(温莎审查)而加剧。改善这种情况以造福于检查员、警察部队及其所服务的社区并非易事。职业自豪感和“男子汉气概”的工作文化--“不惜一切代价完成工作”，包括工作时间过长--让官员们不愿抱怨(或受理投诉)。尽管如此，PFEW的检查专员中央委员会(ICC)和苏格兰的相应机构致力于与他们自己的代表(通过区域检查专员分会)和高级警察管理人员合作，更有效地管理时间，并促进其成员的健康和福祉。为了充分利用这一承诺，知识交流(KE)项目将包括11个区域研讨会，由加的夫商学院和国际商会(PFEW和SPF)联合举办，调查人员、国际刑事法院、法律专家和职业健康专家提供意见。目标受众是IBB代表、警司协会(SA)、首席警官协会(ACPO)、高级警察人力资源经理、内政部以及新任警察和犯罪事务专员。这些工作坊将提供一个交流意见、传播良好做法的论坛，并找出更有效的方法，以监察、管理和平衡督察的工作时间和工作生活，以便警队能够以符合社会对有效警务服务的需要，以及符合警务人员对休息、休养和社交的需要的方式，分配人手和安排工作时间。KE活动的目的不仅是启动这一提高认识、教育和培训的进程，而且是为了发展一个持续的对话论坛，并最终为警察部门制定具体的政策(例如，关于检查员合理工作时间的指导方针、更有效的值班管理制度和灵活的工作安排)。预计政策变化将对检查队伍及其家人的健康和福祉产生影响，尤其是对警察服务的复原力和质量产生影响。

Many Police Inspectors currently work excessively long hours to the detriment of their personal health and wellbeing, their family and social relationships, and the effectiveness of the British Police Service. While this is a long-standing problem at this Rank, the Comprehensive Spending Review recently cut the number of Inspectors by over 8% (between 2009-11) and the Police Service is increasingly stretched by a lack of resilience and a 'time famine' at higher ranks (as demonstrated during the London riots).Our research with the Police Federation of England & Wales (PFEW) and the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) has already mapped out the nature and extent of the problem - Inspectors' hours are not systematically or accurately recorded and more than 1-in-4 work in excess of 48 hours per week (available at: http://policeinspectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Time-for-Justice-report-low-res.pdf). More importantly, Police Inspectors face an especially high risk of 'occupational burnout' because working 'beyond the call of duty' is neither entirely voluntary (officers can be commanded to work in accordance with the 'exigencies of duty') nor fairly rewarded (overtime was 'bought-out' of their contract in 1994, the 'buy-out' is no longer regarded as adequate recompense for the hours/duties they must perform, and most Inspectors find it difficult, if not impossible, to 'recover' excessive hours by working shorter hours during subsequent shifts). Inspectors' concerns over working time have been exacerbated by the Independent Review of Police Officer and Staff Remuneration and Conditions (the Winsor review).Improving this situation for the benefit of Inspectors, the Police Service, and the communities it serves is no easy task. Professional pride and a 'macho' work culture - 'doing whatever it takes to get the job done', including working excessively long hours - makes officers reluctant to complain (or to entertain complaints). Nonetheless, the Inspectors' Central Committee (ICC) of the PFEW, and their Scottish equivalent, are committed to working with both their own representatives (via the regional Inspectors' Branch Boards, IBBs) and senior police management to manage hours more effectively and to promote the health and wellbeing of their members. To capitalise on this commitment, the Knowledge Exchange (KE) project will involve 11 regional workshops, jointly organised by Cardiff Business School and the ICC (PFEW and SPF), with input from the Investigators, the ICC, legal experts, and occupational health specialists. The target audience is IBB reps, the Superintendents' Association (SA), the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), senior police HR managers, the Home Office, and the new Police and Crime Commissioners. The workshops will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, the dissemination of good practice, and the identification of more effective methods to monitor, manage and balance the working hours and working lives of Inspectors so that Police Forces can allocate personnel and schedule hours in a way that meets the needs of the community for effective police services and with the needs of officers for rest, recuperation and social interaction. The KE activity is designed not only to kick-start this process of awareness, education and training, but to develop an on-going forum for dialogue and ultimately concrete polices for the Police Service to adopt (e.g. guidelines on reasonable working hours for Inspectors, more effective Duty Management Systems, and flexible working arrangements). Policy changes are anticipated to have an impact beyond the health and wellbeing of the Inspecting Ranks and their families, most notably in relation to the resilience and quality of police services.