Letter: Police Performance Issues I Encountered Were Administrative, Not Operational

Published on: 29 Jul, 2025
Updated on: 29 Jul, 2025

From Derek Payne

In response to a comment from John Redpath to my letter: Front-line Police Officers Are Heroes But Admin and Comms Need Improvement

I would suggest that Mr Redpath’s excellent example is of operational police performance rather than administrative. The definition below appears to confirm this:

“Administrative activities help stabilise and function within the organisation, while operational functions are directly related to the production or delivery of services.”

I also agree that there are too many press stories of rare issues in police forces, rather than the huge amount of fantastic work they do. Indeed, that’s why I stated the “heroes” element.

However, like many large organisations (for example the Post Office and water companies), there are individuals in positions of authority, influence and power who will do anything to protect their domain, rather than engage and constructively work with people to improve the working environment for the benefit of the many inside and outside the organisation.

In this case, all the borough commanders I worked with enthusiastically and constructively tried to get (and were all refused) a meeting with the individual. Even an Assistant Chief Constable (now retired) couldn’t, or wouldn’t, arrange a meeting.

In July 2023, Tandridge District Councillor Richard Smith, a former police officer, described officer retention as “…like lemmings falling off a cliff”.

He claimed in most organisations, senior management “…won’t tell the truth from what’s being said at the bottom end of the company because it makes them look bad”.

Regarding communications, since the publication of my letter in The Dragon, perhaps coincidentally, I and many others, have received a request to complete a survey regarding police communications. It covers the vast majority of the points raised. This survey was sent to Neighbourhood Watch members of InTheKnow or Visav groups in Guildford (and maybe wider in Surrey/Sussex).

Having my honesty and integrity challenged via a review was initially concerning (especially regarding possible charges), but quickly turned to disbelief and anger when the “issue” was outlined.

My experiences come from working as a volunteer inside Surrey Police, and I have always been constructive, collaborative and cooperative.

I wonder if Mr Redpath has any experiences of working inside the police?

I raise the points I did based on a simple comment from an ex-colleague many years ago: “If something feels wrong, it probably is wrong.”

Having moved out of Guildford, I am considering volunteering with a police force more local to me now, in order to see if the issues I encountered in Guildford are truly widespread, or maybe (and hopefully) just local.