The Shadow of Great Britain

Chadwick’s face finally changed when he heard this.

”The resignation rate is rising...” He paused for a moment, then finally spoke: ”This is indeed something to be wary of. But when police officers resign, doesn’t the local police station promptly replenish its staff?”

This question was asked very directly and administratively.

Arthur nodded. He had long anticipated that this question would be raised, or rather, he was waiting for Chadwick to ask it.

”On the surface, it appears to have been replenished,” Arthur said: ”At least in the reports, the personnel numbers of most local police stations have not seen a precipitous decline, but rather a slight dip.”

He paused for a moment, but there was a subtle change in his tone: ”But the problem lies in who they are replenishing and how they are replenishing them.”

Arthur sighed and said: ”You are a lawyer by training and also a finance expert, so... you are aware that local police funding is borne by the local government. Affluent municipalities can still barely maintain respectable salaries, but in financially strained areas, police salaries are hardly competitive in the labor market.”

Chadwick’s eyebrows slightly raised.

”So...” Arthur calmly added: ”The vast majority of local towns mainly rely on part-time officers with no fixed salary, or on short-term employment and temporary allowances to fill staffing gaps.”

Arthur spoke in a restrained manner, avoiding words like ”misuse” or ”padding,” but the implication was already quite clear.

In the local areas, while the police also wear uniforms, their expectations of the profession, obedience to discipline, and psychological resilience to emergencies simply cannot be compared to official officers at Scotland Yard.

Although professional police are not as scarce as Royal Navy sailors, it is not a job that can be done well by just anyone.

Were it not so, local governments would not be scrambling to recruit experienced officers from Scotland Yard when establishing local police stations.

Chadwick clearly did not expect the topic to be brought to this level.

”This kind of situation...” He hesitated for a moment: ”In the short term, is there no possibility of improvement?”

”From a legislative perspective, perhaps there is,” Arthur said with a wry smile: ”If the new Police Bill is successfully implemented, the central government will subsidize 25% of local policing expenses, which is undeniably progress.”

He said this in a very fair tone, without any hint of complaint.

But before Chadwick could breathe a sigh of relief, Arthur spoke again: ”But from an execution perspective, I do not believe there will be fundamental improvement in the short term.”

Chadwick instinctively asked: ”Why?”

”Because that 25% is not additional resources, but rather a sharing of existing expenditures. It can alleviate local pressure but is not sufficient to fundamentally alter the predicament of local police departments in the labor market. Especially in areas that already rely on low-cost manpower to operate, the subsidy is more likely to fill deficits rather than improve officers’ wages.”

After this was said, the room fell silent again.

Compared to Phillips’ previous accusations from an administrative system perspective, Arthur’s practical approach clearly made Chadwick more aware of the current difficulties.

Sitting next to him, Phillips remained silent throughout.

But his fingers unconsciously tapped gently on the table.

This slight and rhythmic tapping did not escape Arthur’s notice, but he did not react, simply stopping his words gracefully, giving the other party a decent silence.

But the silence instead forced Chadwick to speak first.

He looked down at the few pages of notes he had brought with him, moving much slower than before, as if to confirm something or to find a suitable entry point for his next words.

A moment later, he closed the documents and solemnly said: ”I understand what you mean, Arthur.”

This time, he did not use a debating tone, nor did he immediately present a rebuttal or additional hypothesis.

”If the situations you mentioned are happening simultaneously in multiple areas, and not just isolated problems of individual municipalities, then it is indeed not just a problem of policing management, nor merely a friction at the execution level. It will, in turn, affect the implementation pace of the English Poor Laws itself.”

Chadwick then stood up, his movements crisp, without any hesitation.

He did not say goodbye to Phillips but extended his hand to Arthur: ”I need to go back and reorganize the materials the committee has received during this period, especially the feedback from the local police system. Frankly, a lot of the content had not been placed in a sufficiently important position by me before.”

Arthur also stood and shook his hand: ”If needed, I can have someone send more comprehensive statistics to you.”

Chadwick nodded: ”I will contact you, and besides...”

He hesitated slightly, then added: ”If you have time tomorrow, I hope to discuss this with you alone.”

Arthur did not show any surprise, he smiled and naturally agreed: ”Of course, I await your message.”

Chadwick then turned to Phillips: ”Mr. Phillips, today’s discussion has been very helpful to me. I think we will soon revisit this issue.”

Phillips smiled slightly and also stood up: ”You’re always welcome, the Home Office has always been willing to cooperate with the committee’s work.”