Born and bred in London - policing in Jersey

Tuesday 30 August 2016

In the second of a three-part series, Jersey Police Chief Mike Bowron looks back on over three decades as a 'copper' - both in London and the Channel Islands.

The rapper Kano has a phrase which sums up London and it’s one which resonates with Jersey’s Police Chief Mike Bowron. The lyrics go, “...London, London, London town, you can toughen up or get thrown around.”

A south Londoner born and bred, Mike Bowron understands those words from his cap down to his shoes. 

He cut his teeth as a youngster on the hard streets of Streatham, which just happened to be a perfect grounding for his career as a policeman, starting out with the boys in blue 36 years ago.

As a teenager he trained as a boxer at the famous Earlsfield gym, after getting mugged for loose change by a bunch of toughs while walking out of a chip shop near his parents’ home. 

At that gym was a certain future world heavyweight champion, Frank Bruno, although Mr Bowron remembers very little of his fellow fighter, who was several years younger. “He was just a gangly lad is all I can recall.” 

He added: “South London is an education in everything. It teaches you about life. It teaches you about surviving and it teaches you about being a copper. It is a great grounding in life as you understand the rough end of the world.”

Mr Bowron goes back to London regularly to watch Charlton Athletic, and is surprised by the way the capital is altering before his eyes.  

“Some of my old stomping ground is changing, it is becoming very gentrified. I walked around Southwark park near the Rotherhithe tunnel and it is quite posh, then you get to another side of the park and it is tough, tough, tough. The park at one end Yuppie-ville and the other end, not so good. The have-nots. That’s how close you are in London to each other.”

Onto matters more present than past, Mr Bowron has had to deal with budget squeezing every year since he came to Jersey in 2011. It is not a factor of the job which unduly fazes him.  

“There is a gap in the public finances and you accept that as it’s not exclusive to Jersey, but is the same in most areas of the UK. I think the States realises we have to do things more efficiently and re-define what acceptable levels of service are. The police have to take those measures on board the same as anyone else. 

“Ironically, we have been looking at modernising ever since I got here six years ago. It is about challenging all of our practices and looking to be leaner wherever we can. We look at our strategies for catching villains. How we are deployed on a day to day basis and keeping a tight rein on the purse strings. 

“One simple way will be the introduction of mobile pads, which we hope will happen within the space of the next year. 

“Our front line coppers can use some sort of device which will enable them to do their job much more efficiently, rather than to-ing and fro-ing back to the station. If I can get my officers to tap in information on a hand-held device, it will save so much time. There is a hell of an efficiency there straight away, because you won’t then need to return to the station and write down a statement in long hand four times.

“Body cameras are another device which can save time, which we have introduced. In future, officers might only have to come into the station to pick up some fresh batteries and have some lunch. This is groundbreaking stuff. 

“I sent a team out last year and said go out to the whole of the country and find out who has got the best policing model? They went everywhere and the results will be borne out in time.”

Mr Bowron is convinced the move to the new police HQ will bring enormous benefits to the police force in Jersey, as they will be no longer be situated in an assortment of out-houses on Rouge Boullion.   

“We are going into a new £24million police station, which is going to put us into one building for the first time ever. It is running to budget and on time, with a view to moving in by March. From communication improvements to literally everything, I can’t list the amount of benefits that will bring. 

“It will save money as well in due course and being all together is good for the soul. Where we are now is creaking and tired and this whole project is a good news story. It is also funded by over a half from criminal activities, from the compensation fund. That will be a good feeling when it comes to cutting the tape.”

Back to budgets and Mr Bowron accepts his force will be getting smaller over the years, although with the improvements in technology that may not mean lesser service. 

“If the States have got to save money, about 85% of my costs are on pay. The rest is for computers, cars etc. So ultimately we are going to have to make savings in terms of head count, between now and the end of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) in 2019. You can do it through natural wastage as officers retire and hopefully we can achieve the same, with less, at the end of the MTFP and possibly more.  

“Right now, I have 211 officers and support staff of around 120. I’m convinced we can make those efficiencies and be as good, if not better, when it comes to service. We have been taking a reduced budget every year I have been here. We had 245 officers when I first arrived and by the end of the MTFP it will around 200 officers and around 100 support staff. But I think we can still be a better police force and I hope the falling crime figures underline that.”

Mr Bowron has spent the best part of a lifetime in the police force, first for the City of London force and now in Jersey, where he has played a primary role in the cutting of crime figures on the Island. 

However, drug seizures by Jersey Customs and Immigration have gone up lately, although that is explainable. 

“I can tell you how it works,” he said. “Drug prices are variable, depending on supply and demand so I never get too hung up by the value of seizures. Some seizures are big, some small, but we work very closely with customs and our work revolves around deterring organised crime gangs from bringing in large quantities of drugs. 

“We have had quite a big increase in street seizures, but that is just a reflection of police activity. In my book, the important figures are the crime figures and they are going down every year.”