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Police chiefs and media organisations have published a Charter that resets the relationship between them, laying the foundation for conversations and engagement that is based on mutual respect, courtesy and cooperation.
Celebrating a change in tone of the relationship between policing and the media, Crime Reporters Association Chair, Rebecca Camber chaired a panel at the Society of Editor’s conference and said that the publication of the Policing and Media Charter was ‘groundbreaking’ and significant for improving levels of trust in crime reporting.
“We made 26 recommendations for massive changes in the relationship between the police and the media. And I am delighted to say they listened. They accepted them. I really hope that this will make a substantial change to journalists, police, press officers and for police officers across the UK.”
Rebecca Camber, Chair of the Crime Reporters Association.
The purpose of the Charter is to set out how journalists and press officers interact with one
another, with the overarching aim of strengthening the relationship between policing and the media. It has taken two years to develop and is intended ‘to promote consistent standards and decision-making in the release of public information across all police forces, building on the principles of openness and transparency.’
It comes after the recent publication of revised College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice on media and communications.
At last year’s Society of Editors’ conference, Camber berated police forces for not having a public phone number for the press to call. Today, National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair, Gavin Stephens explained: “When we’re working across 43 police forces with different ways of doing things, just getting people to commit to having a phone line and answering the phone was super important. And, as of last week, all forces had agreed to do that.”
Stephens joined the panel to discuss the impact of the Charter. He said he was “really excited by it” and thought that it will make a difference over time to the quality of relationships. Anticipating the release of the Charter, Stephens said that 200+ police staff had already been trained on it. Key points include:
- Communications officers being empowered to provide guidance using their reasoned judgement
- Police investigation updates to be released as soon as possible to prevent speculation and misinformation
- Police to respect media exclusives
- Police can disclose a suspect’s nationality and ethnicity on arrest
The impetus for the change in the relationship came from both the response to the disappearance of Nicola Bulley in 2023 and the murder of three young girls in Stockport. Reflecting on those incidents and welcoming the publication of the Charter, CC Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing said:
“A stable, democratic society doesn’t work without effective policing and a critical investigative, independent journalistic profession. That trust, and the damage to it, was really serious for policing. I’ve heard it said, ‘trust arrives on a tortoise and it leaves on a horse,’ well in this case, the trust had left at some pace.”
In the wider discussion, Stephens emphasised the importance of police officers being able to identify journalists with legitimate press cards and set them apart from what he called ‘content creators’ who create ‘nonsense.’
Describing body worn video footage as an ‘underused asset,’ Sir Andy Marsh urged journalists to ask for it after incidents. “I do believe that it can and it will, at some stage, thoroughly transform the criminal justice system.”
Read the Charter in full – The Policing and Media Charter.
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