The army gets Sandhurst. The police get an uninspiring shed

The essential ingredient for any high-performing public body is great leadership. Of course, it is also about resources, the right government policy and the people working at the front line. But look at an excellent school and you invariably find an exceptional head teacher.

This is no less true in policing. The best-performing forces are well led. But too many forces fail to deliver the service the public expect. It’s true that policing faces rising public demand, ebbing resources and the real challenge of new forms of crime. But this is no excuse when some forces have found a way to provide the basic service the public rightly expects while others have not.

When the public’s belief that the police are doing a good job is falling, workforce confidence in its leaders is worryingly low and officers are leaving, the alarm bells should be ringing. The challenges will only increase. Now is the time for a fundamental reset in police leadership culture, prioritising high performance, cutting crime and public protection.

The leadership we need in policing isn’t just at the top. It’s at every rank, from the constable who must exercise sound judgment to the chief who today is doing one of the most difficult jobs in the public sector.

Yet the policing system invests remarkably little in preparing leaders. Fifteen years after leaving Sandhurst, a colonel in charge of 1,500 people will have undertaken 72 weeks of leadership development. Chief superintendents in the Metropolitan Police are likely to have had just two or three weeks.

If we are to reduce bureaucracy and move to a system which is less prescriptive and more trusting of the exercise of sound judgment — the essence of the British policing model — we must ensure all officers are trained to the highest standard, can show the necessary leadership, and are themselves well led.

The police service’s first-line leaders, more than 22,000 sergeants, directly supervise over three quarters of the police workforce. Yet they receive inadequate training and support for such a critical role.

The independent Commission on Police Leadership, which reports today, calls for a fundamental overhaul of training and leadership development. A new rank of senior constable would reward and recognise experienced frontline officers who mentor colleagues and role-model standards.

Promotion processes across all ranks would be shaken up, while every officer would complete a standardised annual performance review — including chief constables.

These vital roles leading forces regularly attract only a single suitable applicant. Urgent action is needed to build a credible pipeline of candidates. A new leadership fast stream — the largest talent scheme ever introduced into policing — would attract the brightest and best to the service and develop the senior police leaders of the future.

A new National Academy of Police Leadership would drive consistent, high-quality development across forces, with a proper building, just as the army has Sandhurst and Shrivenham. That could help us market British policing expertise overseas and generate revenue. At the moment, senior police leaders are trained in an uninspiring shed.

These proposals align with the government’s wider reforms to policing, including the creation of a National Police Service and an underlying theme of stronger central grip, greater consistency and higher standards across the service. But the new prime minister will also have to recognise that central spending on leadership development can no longer remain at a wholly inadequate 0.02 per cent of total police funding.

There are many examples of outstanding police leadership that deliver for the public every day. We all depend on the officers and staff who do so much to keep us all safe. They need and deserve a better system that invests in their future.

Fundamentally, this is about ensuring that the public receive the quality of policing to which they are entitled. Change is essential to prepare the service for future challenges and deliver what matters most: cutting crime and keeping people safe.

Lord Herbert of South Downs is the co-chair of the independent Police Leadership Commission, and chair of the College of Policing

This article appeared with a report in The Times on 6 July 2026