Rupert Matthews is the Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland.

A few months ago a shopkeeper in Wrexham got so fed up with the amount of shoplifting he was suffering – and the lack of police action on his reports – that he decided to secure his more prized items in locked display cabinets. He explained why to his customers by putting a sign in the shop window which read:

“Due to scumbags shoplifting, please ask for assistance to open cabinets.”

Shortly afterwards the police called. Had they come to update him on his crime reports? Or perhaps to congratulate him on his crime prevention measures?

No! They came to instruct him to take the sign down because somebody had been offended.

I’m tempted to remark that the North Wales Police must have solved all crime in their area if they have time for this woke nonsense. But in fact, this represents a massive failure of training police officers. Offending somebody is not against the law, using the word “scumbag” is not against the law. This was none of the business of the police.

The role of our police, in case some may have forgotten, is to maintain the King’s Peace. There was a time when trainee officers were taught this, and were taught what the law they were to enforce actually was.

Training the police is the role of the College of Policing. So if police officers are so poorly trained that they think it their duty to harass law-abiding shopkeepers, the buck stops with the College. This is the same College of Policing, remember, that backs the abomination that is the Police Race Action Plan.

Obviously, the College of Policing, like too  many other institutions of the criminal justice system, needs a hefty nudge of the tiller to get it back on course.

Entirely coincidentally, an email popped into my inbox shortly after I read about the Wrexham incident, telling me that the College of Policing is looking for new Non-Executive Directors to sit on its Board. One position is reserved for a Police and Crime Commissioner. Since I’m a Police and Crime Commissioner [for Leicestershire and Rutland since you ask], I thought I’d apply. Then I’d be in a position to give the tiller the nudge it so badly needs.

I downloaded the application pack and started reading. They wanted a CV, no problem. They wanted a statement of suitability, piece of cake.

But then I got to the section titled “Person Specification – Essential Criteria”.

Oh dear.

Applications would be considered only from those with “A deep understanding of the College of Policing and support for its goals.” Furthermore the successful applicant  would be expected to “uphold College policies”.

Since my main reason for applying was because I did not “uphold College policies” and did not “support its goals”, but wanted to change both, this presented something of a problem.
This is, of course, how morally bankrupt organisations maintain their power. They don’t persuade people that they are right, still less do they adapt to change. Instead, they block reform, refuse change and silence those who ask awkward questions.

Being opposed to the policies of an organisation should be no bar to membership of it. Nigel Farage was passionately opposed to the European Union throughout his time as a Member of the European Parliament but that did not stop him being an active member. And, of course, in the end he managed to get change made and Britain left the EU.

Interestingly the College of Policing make a big thing of its support of diversity. It has devoted an entire section of its website to “diversity and inclusion”. My experience of the public sector has been that support for diversity is enthusiastic so long as it applies to ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and a handful of other approved categories.

But the public sector is rarely, if ever, keen on diversity of opinion. If you don’t agree with the public sector view there is little room for you, and no chance of promotion. But rarely do you find this spelled out so bluntly as it is by the College of Policing.

Far from being open to change, the College of Policing clearly wants to stifle any opposition to its policies and goals. Those of us who watch two tier policing unfolding on our streets look on in despair. This is not how a democracy is supposed to function.

I decided to apply for the post anyway. Public bodies like the College of Policing need to change if we are to cut the dark heart of wokeness from out of the criminal justice system.
Rather predictably, I didn’t get the position.