Reporter of the Year – East of England,
Hold the Front Page/EDF, 2007

FROST author Rodney Wingfield says he is killing off the character – played on TV by David Jason – over a row with Essex Police. Here Mr Wingfield tells Stephen Neale the details of his complaint and we also look into the problems currently being experienced by some police officers in the service. 

•EXCLUSIVE•

ESSEX, UK, September 22. 2006 — Fictional detective Jack Frost will be killed off by his creator because of a row with Essex Police.

FROST: David Jason's famous character

Playwright Rodney Wingfield has vowed to ditch the world-famous character, after Chief Constable Roger Baker failed to answer his letter of complaint.

Mr Wingfield, who lives in Basildon, Essex, wrote after his nephew was arrested and locked up overnight in March for a crime he did not commit.

The row coincides with claims from within the force that unrealistic arrest rates are forcing innocent and minor offenders into custody.

‘horror stories’

Mr Wingfield said: “I have always been pro-police, but the actions of Essex Police, and the many horror stories told to me about them, make it impossible for me to write any more pro-police Jack Frost novels.

“The book I am currently working on, A Killing Frost, will be my last.”

Essex Police refused to comment on the details of Mr Wingfield’s complaint, but insisted there were no plans to relax the arrest targets.

A spokesman claimed that Mr Wingfield had been sent a nine-page response on July 30, although Mr Baker had not replied personally.

More than 1,600 posts have been logged on an Internet forum thread entitled ‘Essex Police – What a Mess’ debating the force’s status since the chief constable arrived in July 2005.

Numerous postings on website www.policeoracle.com support the chief constable, but many are critical. The level of discontent among the police rank and file is unclear.

The Essex Police Federation has organised an ‘open meeting’ on Monday, October 30, where officers will have the chance  to put their concerns to Mr Baker in person. Although some say they will not attend because of their fears of retribution, federation leaders will allow questions to be put via staff association representatives.

A senior federation officer, who asked not to be named, said: “We need as many officers to come along as possible.

“We are being told that these complaints are just the tip of the iceberg. But there’s no way of knowing until people turn up to the meeting.”

Mr Baker refused to be interviewed over the allegations.

Inspector Jack Frost is best known as the character portrayed by David Jason on ITV’s ‘A Touch of Frost’. The show is watched by millions of viewers all around the world.

ends

Hold the Front Page/EDF - Reporter of the Year 2007 (East of England)
WINNER 
 

By Stephen Neale

ESSEX, UK, September 22. 2006 — Jamie had a dream. One day he would be a police officer. The dream was shattered in June when a stranger ordered him into a car, took him to a large building and locked him up.

The 14-year-old had been playing outside his home at 7.30pm when he was taken away.

His mother, who was preparing dinner at the time, realised something was wrong just after 8pm when the phone rang.

It was Rayleigh Police.

“Your son’s in trouble…” said the caller. “…we’ve arrested him.”

His crime?

Playing in the street with a plastic gun that fires a soft ball.

“I couldn’t believe it,” says his mother. “It felt as though he’d been abducted.”

Three months after making a complaint she’s still waiting for an apology, convinced something more sinister lay behind her son’s arrest.

Police officers are applying to leave the force in droves because they say people like Jamie’s mum are probably right.

PC Rultize is one of them. He typifies the mood among officers who have had enough of the job.

‘dream’

Problems began soon after Essex Chief Constable Roger Baker arrived in July, 2005.

At a special press conference on July 4, Mr Baker, said he had a dream, just like Jamie. He demanded 600 arrests in his first week in charge.

AMBITIOUS: Essex chief constable Roger Baker

His plan was to turn Essex into the best performing force in the country. It was welcomed by virtually every officer under his command.

But then they discovered that trying to run a Rolls Royce police service on a cash-starved budget is too much – even for the ambitious Mr Baker.

Tory-controlled Essex has one of the lowest council tax precepts in the country. As Mr Baker continued to push for better performance and improved figures, the extra resources he needed never materialised. Police morale has begun to slip, sickness rates have soared.

“Every day, phone calls are made to every division to check up how many people are arrested,” explains PC Rultize.

‘discretion is going out of the window’

“There’s a set number of people we should be arresting daily. If targets are not met inspectors, sergeants and PCs are questioned.

“It means discretion is going out of the window and we are arresting people for trivial things.

“Baker likes to go on about how he has made the number of arrests go up, but it’s all manipulation of figures.

“And is he really interested in why officers are transferring? If he was running a business he would be out in a week.”

Sources at the Essex Police Federation confirm the drive for more arrests and detections has had a devastating effect on the under-resourced force.

Publicly the Federation refuses to criticise Mr Baker, but it has successfully arranged an open meeting between the chief and all his serving officers for October 30, at Chelmsford HQ.

But while some claim he has not listened hard enough to his staff, it is government – both local and national – that must take most responsibility.

Force accountants estimate that Essex Police could buy in an extra 750 officers if it received as much funding as other counties.

A recruitment drive that large would boost numbers by almost 25 per cent, relieving the pressure on overworked staff and giving Mr Baker the power to get on with the real job – cracking down on even more crime.

‘a personal message’

But are the spurious arrest figures already undermining his priority?

When he arrived in July, Mr Baker had a personal message for criminals.

“If you are planning on committing crime in Essex bring a toothbrush, because you won’t be going home,” he warned.

Although he delivered immediate crime reductions, many officers believe his continued refusal to relax targets in line with staff shortages and sickness could swing the initiative back towards the criminals.

Officers manning stations in the south of the county, at Rayleigh, Southend, Basildon, Thurrock and Grays report severe staffing gaps in shifts. They claim these shortages represent a public safety risk.

Most week nights and Sundays between midnight and 6am there will be six officers covering the whole of Basildon, Wickford, Pitsea and Laindon. The same goes for Canvey, Rayleigh, Hockley, Benfleet, Rochford, Canewdon, Wakering and Hullbridge – with just six more officers allocated to Southend, Thorpe Bay, Leigh, Eastwood and Shoebury.

Combine this with officers who are taking an average of 3-5 hours to deal with dubious arrests of trivial offenders, and the more serious offenders are inevitably escaping the system.

‘Maybe the public can now see what we are up against.’

“It’s the same all over the county,” said a police source. “One major incident in a highly populated area ties up all six officers.

“Unfortunately it will take the serious injury to a police officer or a member of the public for things to change, and by then it will be too late.

“Maybe the public can now see what we are up against.”

Mr Baker had a dream when he arrived in Essex 15 months ago – just like young Jamie.

The 14-year-old doesn’t want to be a police officer any more.

Perhaps as he grows he’ll change his mind. Maybe Mr Baker will change his mind too – about how he goes about creating the best force in Britain that is.

Give your officers a break Mr Baker – demand more cash from government. Then call Jamie and say sorry.

• The names of all police officers in this article, other than Roger Baker’s, have been changed to protect their identity, as has Jamie’s.

JOINT STATEMENT FROM ESSEX POLICE, ESSEX POLICE AUTHORITY AND ESSEX POLICE FEDERATION

The target for arrests was set in July 2005, and the targets have not changed, but they are part of an overall strategy to reduce crime and increase detections, and to be tough on crime and criminals to make Essex an even safer place for law-abiding citizens – and the results speak for themselves.

Last year (2005/06) saw overall crime drop by 2,411 offences (more than 2 per cent), whilst overall detections increased by 4,518 (15 per cent).

For the first quarter of this year (2006/07), compared to the same quarter last year, the trend continues, with overall crime down by 2,371 (6.8 per cent) and overall detections up by 892 (9.7 per cent).

Essex Police is also in the top five forces in the country in terms of its crime-reduction performance for the same period.

The aim of the new policing style is to give the public what they want, which is a reduction in crime, an increase in arrests and detections and a visible presence on our streets.

• The Police Federation has recently stated that any representations it made to the Chief Constable have been ‘addressed one way or another’.

EXTRACT FROM MR BAKER’S POLICING PRIORITIES – JULY 2005

I BELIEVE the police service in Britain is the best in the world. I also believe that Essex Police can be the best force in the country, as its reputation is already outstanding.

ESSEX POLICE AUTHORITY

In March 2005, the authority appointed Roger Baker as Chief Constable. During the selection process we made it quite clear to candidates that we had three priorities: dramatically increase visible policing; provide better public contact; and reducing anti-social behaviour.

“With that goes increasing arrests and detections and taking a rigorous approach to crime and criminality.

The Authority backs him for the improved performance that the force has delivered and which it is hoped will be delivered in the future. I and my colleagues have every confidence in Roger Baker and his team.

• THIS week, Roger Chambers, the chairman of Essex Police Authority, said Mr Baker had his ‘100 per cent backing.’

COMPLAINTS

• Complaints against the force rose by more than 25 per cent in the nine months between June 2005 and March 2006.

• Of 68 complaints, 30 involved alleged unlawful arrest, while the remaining 38 were allegations of breaches in detention, treatment and questioning of suspects – half as many such complaints on arrest and detention of suspects were recorded in the previous nine months.

• Essex Police said it had recorded the lowest amount of complaints in the eastern region in June 2006, when comparing complaints per 1,000 police staff.

• Between April 2005 and March 2006 the force recorded the second lowest number of complaints compared with neighbouring regions.

Newspaper Society - Campaign of the Year 2006
WINNER

By Stephen Neale

ESSEX, UK, November 15. 2005 — Six hundred children face an uncertain future this week.

They are not Pakistanis caught up in their country’s worst ever earthquake, Americans rebuilding homes in New Orleans, Guatemalans escaping mud slides and flooding, nor young Iraqis dealing with war and terror on the streets of Baghdad.

Southend Council voted last Thursday night to press ahead with a closure plan for an Essex school.

“They are being cast off like chaff on the wind,” said headteacher Jean Alder, describing the decision as “a tragedy”.

But is a closing a school really cause for such concern – a school that has been under special measures for the last six years, no less?

Problems for Thorpe Bay High School begun in June 1999 when inspectors swept in and derided poor teaching and results. Just 23 per cent of children got A* to C grades. Southend High for Girls – right next door on Southchurch Boulevard – achieved 99 per cent.

Despite being placed in special measures, it wasn’t all bad news for Thorpe Bay. Inspectors described “an orderly community” where pupil behaviour around the school was “satisfactory”.

“Relationships between adults and pupils are cordial,” the inspectors reported. “Most pupils are polite and well-mannered. In lessons, most
pupils pay attention to their teachers and generally concentrate on their work.”

But that was all about to change. What happened when they left was shocking. Staff exited and pupil numbers plummeted from 800 to 600. Most importantly, five police officers had to be drafted in to protect the staff from the pupil chaos that ensued. It lasted on and off for three years.

“The kids were literally running the school,” said PC Gary Bradford, one of the officers brought in.

Like any number of so called “failing schools”, Thorpe Bay’s pre-1999 problems were overwhelmingly linked to a perception of pupil
underachievement.

This is neither a mystery nor necessarily an indication of a truly failing school. Thorpe Bay takes its catchment from one of the UK’s most deprived areas.

The Kursaal Estate and its surrounding wards are highlighted on Government reports as among the most impoverished in the UK. Meanwhile the town’s grammar schools cream off the very best pupil talent in the area.

“We’re the sink school,” says Mrs Alder.

More than 45 per cent of Thorpe Bay’s kids receive free school meals. The links between under achievemers and disadvantaged backgrounds are recognised by both education analysts and Government departments.

If poverty were not enough of an issue, almost one third of Thorpe Bay High pupils have special educational needs (SEN). Southend High for Girls has just one SEN pupil on its books.

Despite the obvious difference in what children can aspire to achieve, special needs ratios are never taken into account when inspectors determine why a school is not attaining top results.  And its even worst than that.

Being disadvantaged is about more than being poor or having special needs. Many children have parents who have difficulty reading, an issue that can undermine the chances of homework being completed regularly or effectively, as most parents will know.

There may be no books at home, some youngsters might be emotionally damaged, exposed to alcohol, drug abuse or even violence. Dad might be disabled, or mum might be living alone caring for five other young children.

These may not be human tragedies on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, but they’re very real problems for the children working to overcome them.

“Many of our children have genuine issues to deal with in their home lives,” says Mrs Alder. “For some of them it might be that they’re the main carer to a parent. Just getting into school is a fantastic achievement. How can a child be judged a failure when he has achieved a GCSE D grade where all the indicators suggested he wasn’t going to get anything.”

Jean Alder arrived in 2004 and her appointment marked the turning point in the school’s fortunes. She immediately installed a new team that has
overseen a teaching regime specially tailored to deal with kids from wide and varied backgrounds.

Among the schemes in place are pastoral managers trained to identify solutions and forge a bridge between a child’s school and home life. Special classes are used to cater for as few as ten children.

Discipline has been restored. With pupils attentive in lessons once again, they stand up when an adult walks in the classroom and actually hold open doors for staff as they walk the corridors.

“They used to slam them in our faces,” says Clare Webber, a teacher who returned to work with Ms Alder when she saw the changes.

A £1million teaching block opened at the start of this term to cater for the new crop of Year Seven pupils. Among the schemes being deployed at the centre are specialist year teachers employed to work one-to-one with 11-year-olds enabling them to settle in to their new teaching environment.

Parents overwhelmingly want to see the school stay open. Although many have initial reservations about bringing their children in, once they see for themselves the work going on they are soon impressed. Most of those visiting a school target-setting day in September were keen to speak out against closure.

Dave Morris, a local barber, was typical. “There were a lot of problems here before but I’ve seen the changes. We were so impressed when we came to see what Thorpe Bay had to offer. I can’t see any problems here. The school should have been out of special measures a year ago.”

PC Bradford is still at full-time, part of the national scheme to improve the relationship between young people and the police. His four police colleagues have long gone.

“The turnaround at this school is unbelievable,” he says. “It would be absolutely devastating for the kids and the teaching staff if it closes now. Everyone has worked so hard to make it a success.”

Jean Alder and her team have put forward an alternative plan to Southend Council. What sticks in the throat for staff, and the irony of their dilemma, is that Thorpe Bay is on the verge of coming out of special measures.

Inspectors are due to visit any week and staff are convinced they have done enough to warrant a reprieve. Only it looks too late.

Southend Council leader Anna Waite said last week that the school’s dropping pupil admissions, created largely by its “failing” status under
special measure, mean the school has become an economic albatross.

“It’s just not financially viable,” she said. She is neither uncaring nor stupid.

Her authority is under pressure from Government and has been promised £6million if the closure goes ahead. When asked why she and her councillor colleagues have not visited the classrooms to see the improvements for themselves, she claimed her Cabinet could rely on the word of Ofsted, “the experts”.

She offered to visit classes if her schedule allowed last week. It did not.

“The teachers at Thorpe Bay have been working extremely hard to turn the school around,” she said on Friday. “However, Thorpe Bay School is not viable in the future and the council has the responsibility to take action in the best interests of current and future pupils in this town.”

For Jean Alder the future for her pupils is very clear. She believes the mass of “underachievers” who will soon find themselves among neighbouring schools will become lost in the system.

“They will simply not be picked up,” she says. “They say cash will be made available. But it will be difficult to give these children the sort of support they have enjoyed here. That’s partly because of the community nature of the school. It will be destroyed if you split these children up.

“None of this is motivated by what’s best for the children. It’s motivated by money, and I’m deeply worried for all those concerned.”

Southend Council has just three weeks to reconsider Thursday’s decision.

For those children, parents and staff who fear the worst, the uncertainty is yet to come.

UPDATE

• Two weeks after this story was published Southend Council said it was reconsidering its decision to close. A month later Ofsted visited and took Thorpe Bay out of special measures. 

VISIT: Ruth Kelly arrives

On February 3, Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education, met with pupils and announced £20million funding to create a vocational school of excellence for 11-18 year olds.

HEAD: Jean Alder and pupils at Futures College

Thorpe Bay is now called Futures College.

ends