The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) -- The American senior police official credited with a dramatic drop in crime in the city of Boston begins his new job as head of the British law enforcement unit assigned to carry out police reform.
The government hired Paul F. Evans in September to help departments in Britain improve their crime-fighting efforts. The Police Standards Unit he will head is responsible for carrying out the government’s pledge to reform policing across England and Wales.
Evans, who left his job as police commissioner of the Massachusetts state capital to take the British job, is the first foreigner in such a high law enforcement post in Britain.
When his posting was announced, the Police Federation of England and Wales issued a statement saying, “whilst he has made a significant contribution to reducing crime in Boston, it is worth remembering that policing is not the same both sides of the Atlantic.”
Evans, who will have the power to step in and take over failing forces, will be dealing with differences in British and American policing techniques, most notably in the use of firearms. Unlike most American police, British police do not carry firearms except in special units and situations.
The office Evans will head, the Police Standards Unit, was created in 2001 by Home Secretary David Blunkett to assess how British police forces are performing, and to help them improve.