Panel members from the counties best known independent police scrutiny panel, The Joint Protective Services (JPS) Scrutiny Panel, managed by Att10tive Social Enterprise which covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, is calling on more community members to join its ranks and help ensure that local policing continues to meet the highest standards of fairness, transparency, and accountability.

About the JPS Police Scrutiny Panel

The JPS Scrutiny Panel is a vital community initiative that oversees the use of force by the specialist police divisions in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire. These divisions are the armed policing, roads policing, and dog units. The panel’s role is to act with impartiality, ensuring that police actions are fair and balanced, and that they meet the guidelines set by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), and the College of Policing.

The panel is chaired by Montell Neufville, a nationally recognised policing advisor and ethics expert. Montell brings a wealth of experience to the role, having served as a police ethics advisor and managing director of Att10tive. His leadership has been instrumental in establishing the panel’s credibility and effectiveness. Montell’s innovative approach including devising a scrutiny panel framework for all panels called PLANTER has been adapted and shared by the College of Policing.

https://www.college.police.uk/support-forces/practices/planter-reducing-disproportionality-police-use-force

Why Join the JPS Scrutiny Panel?

Joining the JPS Scrutiny Panel offers a unique opportunity to contribute to your community by ensuring that local policing is conducted with integrity and respect. Panel members come from diverse backgrounds, representing various ages, ethnicities, and professions. This diversity ensures that the panel’s feedback is comprehensive and reflective of the community it serves.

Your Contribution Matters

As a panel member, you will review police data and body-worn video footage, providing critical feedback to police leaders. Your insights will help shape policing practices, ensuring they are proportionate, necessary, and reasonable.

This role is crucial in building trust and confidence between the police and the communities they serve.

Here is what current JPS scrutiny panel members said;

Melissa Rees Howell: “The JPS panel plays a crucial role in building trust and confidence. When actions are transparent and open for examination, it shows accountability, which can enhance public trust and confidence. The perception of scrutiny can vary; for some, it may feel invasive, while for others, it reinforces a sense of security and fairness.

Police engagement in scrutiny is important as it demonstrates accountability and can help bridge the gap between the police and the community. Engaging in scrutiny has helped me to enhance my knowledge and understand the importance of knowing your rights and holding people to account, no matter their position within the occupation.

Being involved in the JPS scrutiny panel gives me confidence that the police are being ‘policed’ and held to account for any unfair, unjust and/or unlawful actions. With this we can expect better practices in policing. Aspects of the JPS panel I like in particular are that our panel is made up of a very broad variety of people with differing ages, backgrounds and occupations. It’s encouraging to see a diverse group of panel members working together to help build trust between the police and our communities.

In terms of improvements, encouraging youth engagement is vital. The youth is the next generation and should, if not must, know and understand the importance of scrutiny to promote a collaborative approach to safety and social justice.

Tony McFarline Added; With the current situation in the world, it’s good to see that the police are being watched and cannot abuse their powers. It’s also good that police will be commended or noted that they acted correctly and carry out their duties to the law

Steve said “Scrutiny plays a crucial role in building trust and confidence within the community. By working with senior police, it ensures transparency and fosters a culture of openness in their police service. This process not only highlights areas for improvement but also celebrates successes, ultimately leading to better policing.”

Anne Maria Brown said ” I have been on the JPS panel for just over 3 years and although it takes some organising as I work full time attending the  virtual meetings is doable. I think it’s important to take part in the panel as this gives  a voice, contributes to the changes that are needed to improve the scrutiny of the body and warn images that are brought before the panel” . 

Phil Dickson Earl said “We will only trust ‘the process’ when we understand what it is and are assure it is being applied fairly and without bias. Scrutiny, which requires true transparency, places ethics, training, and personal responsibility at the centre of developing best practice. Scrutiny panel members act as the eyes and ears of the community. We demand reasonable accountability for the actions and personal decisions made by individual police officers. The challenge is to improve relations between the public and police and to facilitate better professionalism in our police force

Amber Aziz said; “Scrutiny panels are extremely important in order to make sure powerful figures such as the police are held to account for their actions in order to uphold the rule of law. That being said it is extremely important to have young people like myself sitting on such panels in order to add diversity and variety of opinions to be able to judge the scenarios adequately. Although scrutiny panels are empowering and can help build confidence they aren’t always positive. If panels don’t have inclusivity then some argue that they aren’t effective as 1) they don’t accurately represent wider public opinions and 2) they tend to have like-minded people don’t scrutinise actions as adequately as they need to be.

Focusing solely on the JPS will panel i Believe it is highly effective. Unlike many other panels the JPS is very diverse from panel members being from all different age groups, ethnicities and economical backgrounds which is what i believe makes an effective panel. As someone who is interested in law(and now studying this at university) i did not know much about panels or the fact that they existed and how they operated.

Through sitting on the panel I have had an insight on how scrutiny panels actually operate and how effective they actually are which makes me empowered as it makes me feel like my voice is heard and i believe that is extremely important for young people like myself who have strong opinions that they would like to vocalise. Through the courtesy of Montell and Att10tive social enterprise the panel is able to have young pupils thus if it were not for Att10tive there would be not young voices. This is aspect i believe the JPS can improve on.  Effective advertisement that would catch the attention of young people would ensure more young people get involved in the panel. There are many young people who would love to sit on such panels but due to the lack of advertisement they do not know such they exist thus they do not get involved.”

Hermant Said; Aspects of the JPS Panel that Stand Out for me are:

In regards to the Joint Protection Service (JPS) panel, there are a few aspects that might be particularly appealing or effective:

1. Standardisation of Feedback: JPS panels have criteria / guidelines to evaluate performance, which ensures that the scrutiny is structured and consistent. This standardisation can help in understanding what aspects need improvement and what is already meeting the required standards.

2. Constructive Critique: Ideally, the panels focus on providing constructive feedback. This approach is not just about identifying problems but also offering suggestions for improvement, which can be highly beneficial for professional growth.

Scrutiny can be positive when it’s balanced and aimed at improvement rather than punishment. It can be a great tool for learning and self-betterment, especially when the feedback is constructive and objective. However, the negative aspects, like stress or the potential for perceived unfairness, should also be managed carefully to ensure a healthy and productive environment.

How to Get Involved

We are looking for passionate individuals who are committed to social justice and community service. If you live or study in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, or Hertfordshire and are over the age of 16, we encourage you to apply. Your participation will help deliver a police service that truly meets local needs.

For more information and to apply, please contact info@att10tive.com.

Join us in making a difference. Your voice can help shape the future of policing in our community.