The recent announcement by the College of Policing of the introduction of “Direct Entry” – recruitment of officers to the police service at inspector and superintendent rank – has caused a fair amount of comment on Twitter, mostly negative. The concept of direct entry to senior levels of policing brings to an end the long tradition of promotion through the ranks, when every senior officer started out as a constable. The argument most commonly used against DE is that candidates will not have the benefit of years of service at constable and sergeant level, essential for a job that depends on experience and common-sense.

It was therefore interesting to see the comments of Chief Superintendent Nicola Dale, the CoP Lead for Direct Entry. In her blog on the CoP website, C/Supt. Dale talks about the advantages that DE officers might bring to the service. In questioning whether there is a business case for DE at inspector rank, she says: “Is there an evidence base to build upon? The same positive principles apply to Direct Entry inspector as superintendent – new people, new perspectives, a wider breadth of skills that can arrive directly at the rank without waiting 10 years to travel the same corporate path by which time that fresh perspective would be lost, the external skills would be rusty and there is a good chance that they would have ‘gone native’. This is about increasing our diversity but in my mind that is about diversity of thought, background and experience.”

The view that spending years climbing the police rank structure might be a bad thing – at least in terms of lacking the fresh perspective that an external DE candidate would bring – is sure to stir up some controversy. However, when considering how the police service has traditionally run its promotion processes, C/Supt. Dale might just have a point. Promotion is primarily based on a structured interview, along with exams at sergeant and inspector level. Although the process is designed to test competence at the next rank by looking at past performance, success or failure depends on being able to talk convincingly about your achievements for 40 minutes, and other factors inevitably start to come into play: personality, verbal dexterity, and the mysterious art of “interview technique”. Officers in the upper echelons of the police service are veterans of promotion boards, often having failed as many as they’ve passed. It’s easy to see that over time the process acts as a filter, straining out those who don’t conform to the corporate ideal, and reinforcing the requirement not only to “talk the talk”, but to think how the organisation expects you to think.

One phrase in particular stands out in C/Supt. Dale’s blog: “diversity of thought”. This could have almost have been lifted from the pages of Neurotribes, the new book by Wired tech writer Steve Silberman on autism and neurodiversity. Silberman’s book has been widely praised within the business and technology communities for offering a fresh perspective on autism, formerly seen only as a debilitating disorder and a barrier to living a “normal” life. The key point Silberman makes is that people with conditions such as Asperger syndrome and dyslexia are often blessed with the ability to think differently: being able to focus on details, visualise solutions to problems, spot patterns and “think outside the box” to name a few. These skills, which are typically found in Silicon Valley high-technology companies, are of value to any organisation – an idea which is just starting to gain traction in the US and UK.

From the outset, the NPAA has championed the concept of neurodiversity within the police service: recognising that officers of all ranks should be valued for their individual abilities and encouraged to develop their full potential. C/Supt. Dale might have hit the nail on the head in identifying that the police service needs leaders who can think differently; however, in proposing to bring in ‘talent’ from outside the organisation to achieve this aim, the CoP may be missing the obvious: the police service already has original, creative thinkers within its ranks who will never be at risk of “going native”. That officers with Asperger syndrome, and (to a lesser extent) dyslexia are disadvantaged by a promotion system that values a neurotypical mindset is a waste of talent – not to mention money – and is something that today’s police service can ill-afford. Fortunately things are changing for the better, with the new National Police Promotion Framework using work-based assessment as the key factor in assessing suitability for promotion. The pioneering work being done by Hampshire Constabulary on developing an ‘autism-friendly’ selection process recognises that the policing leaders of the future might be better thinkers and doers than talkers – a radical concept indeed.