영국지방자치경찰의 새로운 패러다임 : “2011 경찰개혁 및 사회책임법”과 “국립범죄청”을 중심으로

The current police governance in England and Wales is described as a tripartite structure of police accountability. Established under the 1964 Police Act, the tripartite system distributes responsibilities between the Home Office, local police authorities, and the chief constable of each force. However, as the threat of crime and terrorism increases, the Home Secretary has been provided stronger powers to intervene in local policing, and accordingly, police governance has been more centralized. The new Conservative-led coalition government in 2010 finally announced it would enact the 2011 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act, and establish the National Crime Agency, criticising the previous Government's centralization approach for having failed to meet the particular needs of local communities regarding local policing issues. The 2011 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act will replace police authorities with directly elected police and crime commissioners, who will have the ability to appoint and dismiss the Chief Constable. Police and Crime Panels will also be established for appropriate checks and balances to the power of the Police and Crime Commissioners. Furthermore, the National Crime Agency will be created under the responsibility of the Home Secretary in order to lead the pan-government fight against organised crime at a national level. Now, it can be argued that police governance in England and Wales is being changed into a quadripartite system of Police and Crime Commissioners,Police and Crime panels, Chief Constables, and the National Crime Agency. In this respect, such major police reform plans in England and Wales can contribute to providing policy implications to the introduction of local police forces in Korea.