Future of the honorary police

It is a sobering thought that this pillar of community self-sufficiency, once considered absolutely central to the Island’s way of life, is probably no longer fully understood or appreciated by a significant portion of the population, so deep and swift have been the changes in society in recent years.

A major blow to the system, perhaps ultimately fatal, came with the decision to pay a full salary to States Members for work previously undertaken entirely from a sense of public duty, albeit one sometimes also tinged with an unhealthy taste for power.

Fortunately, the altruistic instinct remains strong in other areas, ranging from parish administration to the judiciary. Perhaps its most obvious manifestation, though, is the honorary police service, without whose time-honoured parochial forces it is hard to imagine Jersey enjoying anything like so rich a calendar of well-run events, keeping crime levels so low in the country or functioning so cost-effectively.

When the head of the Honorary Police Association draws attention to concerns about the future, therefore, it is wise to pay attention. In his annual report, the association’s chairman, Centenier Hugh Raymond, points to a growing trend towards confrontation between honorary officers and members of the public.

Attributing this in part to people taking out their frustrations about modern life on the nearest authority figure, Centenier Raymond also concedes that honorary officers may sometimes aggravate such situations through an over-authoritarian approach or a lack of diplomatic skills.

The crux of the matter is how, in the overworked, heavily regulated world of 21st century Jersey, we are to find enough public-spirited men and women with the time, the talent and the temperament to keep this important tradition alive in a new era while, to some degree, reinventing it. It is a question framed by the recent well-earned honour bestowed on Vingtenier Mitch Couriard, in many ways the archetypal honorary policeman, when he was chosen as the subject of a Jersey Heritage community portrait, and by the elections for over a dozen Centeniers being initiated around the Island this week.

Centenier Raymond is right to say that the new kind of officer Jersey needs must display patience, understanding and good communication skills. He is also right to suggest that standards of dress and appearance are important too if an officer it is to command respect.

However, that should not be taken as a signal for honorary forces to go even further in adopting the ‘look and feel’ of the professional police service. The honorary system is above all a friendly, collaborative community activity, based on common consent and mutual respect. Nothing will kill it off more quickly, attract more of the wrong type of candidate more surely or lead to even more public hostility than a further proliferation of quasi-military uniforms, insignia and equipment, together with the authoritarian tendencies which can sometimes accompany them.