Gaby Hinsliff is right that absolutely fundamental reform of the Metropolitan police is needed (I read the Couzens report expecting evidence of rank misogyny. What I found was almost worse, 29 February). One of the areas that most needs attention is recruitment, because the Met has been attracting too many of the kind of people it needs least.
Norman Dixon, in his 1976 book On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, explained why the military tended to attract the wrong kind of officer. In effect, because it was by nature authoritarian, it attracted authoritarian characters who were least able to respond appropriately in difficult situations.
I wonder if the same process happens in the recruitment of police officers. In other words, that the necessarily authoritarian nature of policing tends to attract the very kind of personality who is least able to act appropriately in situations where empathy and human consideration are needed. Of course, not all recruits will be of this type, but it seems clear that the usually much-maligned personality tests may be one way to weed out the wrong kind. Proper record-keeping and sharing between different parts of the system are also essential.
Dr Richard Carter
Putney, London
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