CRIM 2012 Final Assessment Contemporary Issues in Police Leadership and Management

Case Study of Policing and Disaster Prevention and Response

Background

Walmington-on-Sea is a village in a very popular south coast tourist resort with sightseeing locations by the sea. The resort draws hundreds of thousands of people from around the world, and the UK in particular, during peak seasons. It has a lot of local day visitors and those who rent accommodation or stay in nearby hotels for longer periods.

The location is also popular with boating and fishing enthusiasts and those who enjoy waterborne activities. As a consequence both the seaside and surrounding shops and restaurants are packed with visitors and locals going about their business. One of the attractions of the place for many visitors is that the sea is close to many local communities which facilitates a good interaction between these two groups.

Particular unique features of local towns generally and those leading to the seaside are worthy of mention. Most of the roads in and out of the towns are usually old and very narrow roads which struggle to manage the heavy traffic, particularly coaches and buses going to the seaside. Some of the roads are in quite poor condition. As a consequence traffic is slow and often congested for a few miles until the dual carriageway links onto the main motorways which takes you to the major cities.

Similar to Leicestershire the location has an elaborate waterway system which consists of lakes, rivers, and canals and is below sea level which means it  periodically experiences quite serious flooding. Over the last couple of years this seems to be becoming more regular. On one of these occasions, over two billion litres of water rushed down the valley straight into Walmington-on-Sea. Floodwater gushed into houses, shops and pubs. Cars, walls and even bridges were washed away. The church was filled with six feet of mud and water. Trees were uprooted and swept into peoples’ gardens. The weight of water eroded river banks, damaged gardens and pavements.

The UK Government Environment Agency has a made an announcement that a further potentially heavy storm and rain system appears to be heading for the south coast, which is currently identified as a category three storm, but may increase to an unprecedented category four when it hits landfall. The storm is expected to hit landfall on Friday 10th April 2020 and could last for anything from two to three days if not more. This leaves the police and relevant agencies seven days (from date of your assessment) before the storm is expected to hit the South Coast potentially causing serious issues.

Police Role

The police may be the lead agency (at least in the first instance) for major incidents and unforeseen events of this kind. You are advisors based in the local area attached to the police Operational and Planning Division. As the advisor your role is to assist the development of good practice in major operations and planning.

Your task is to help develop a good and sound operational plan for disaster prevention and response to the oncoming storm. As the police and other agencies will have their traditional ways of responding to such emergencies, you will need to consider the most effective personal leadership style or approach that can be utilised in order for you to influence key individuals and groups within the police and beyond it, if and when required. You do not possess command and line authority.

Use the Joint Decision Making Model/ NDM to consider this contemporary issue. Consider the range of resources required and potential additional resources such as voluntary organisations, and charitable associations among others who can be called upon. Resources can also include technical tools and aids that you may require. Your plan (in essay form) must demonstrate consideration of clear lines of responsibility, accountability and communication. Given the impending disaster ensure you research the effectiveness of key agencies, such as the police, military or defence forces, health service, resilience forums and other organisations/institutions and the potential challenges and possible deficiencies which have to be taken into consideration.

Finally, it is important to stress even though there is a seven day window before the storm hits landfall, this is the best technical estimate, but in reality this could occur earlier. Your planning should take this into consideration.

Assessment

An individual 2500 word essay answering the following:

Considering major incidents and partnership responsibilities develop a comprehensive plan for the police’s role in reducing the impact of the oncoming storm and its implications, identifying the limits of the police responsibilities and the role of other key partners.

Assessment Format: 2500 word essay

Assessment weighting: 60%

Assessment Marking guide:

  • Engage with the module learning outcomes and the module taught material and associated literature.
  • Include relevant theories, associated models or frameworks & evidence-based academic research.
  • Reflect on the learning and comments of others to answer the question.
  • Requires accurate, appropriate referencing (The Reference List will not be counted towards the word count but is required).
  • Submission via turnitin in Arial 12pt font with one and a half or double line spacing.
  • Sub-headings should not be used.
  • Diagrams should not be included.

Assessment Module Learning Outcomes:

  • Within an investigatory context critically understand and analyze the multi-agency relationships involved in identifying and reducing vulnerability, risk and crime.
  • Critically review and analyze the approaches to dealing with public protection, vulnerability and risk within the context of national and international investigation.
  • Review and critically analyze the relationship between crime prevention and community engagement in the context of legitimacy, ethics and professional investigatory standards.