Every new head of a public institution leaps up to sit at the head of the table humming a new tune and Sir Paul Stephenson is no exception. The new ‘super-cop’ who is taking on the poisoned Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police chalice, spat in so publicly by the bumbling Sir Ian Blair, has given an inaugural press conference setting out his stall.
The media takeaway is that he is no celebrity cop. Unlike his predecessor, he claims that he is going to get on with the job. There’ll be no TV appearances, just the old, traditional values of public office.
Wake up my friend, this is the 21st century!
You have to be in the public eye and win their confidence. You might have hopes for anonymity but–neat PR sound-bite aside–surely you realise that the 24/7 news churn demands more? We don’t expect the three-ring Blair show, but we need transparency, a chief who can communicate with the media and the masses and can offer up a valid presence in a city that faces some major challenges for the constabulary in the coming years, especially as the prospects of civil unrest in the next couple of years look ever more likely.
