Many will recall a chief constable who heard voices from God and another tragic figure in a yellow jacket who insisted on keeping his job after two children died. The Home Secretary tried to sack him but failed. More recently in the west midlands HMG attempted to amalgamate the police forces and the chief constable of west mercia, a public servant, personally master minded a successful campaign of resistance. It seems police have a charmed existance, despite the fact that Section 8 of Rowan and Mayne's (the first joint and joint Commissioners of the Met Police) Nine Principles of Policing instructs police to "refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers ......of the State". Regiments have been amalgamated, hospitals closed and all manner of other units merged, amalgamated, but no other public servant, no soldier, doctor, schoolteacher appeared on national TV demanding a debate, as Mr West did. On the Today programme recently a police officer said how he was reluctant to effect an arrest in another force area as he didn't  know their proceedures.
We have a bizarre situation where unelected police authorities ( composed of magistrates and nominated councillors) are completely unaccountable. It follows that with a weak or sycophantic police authority the chief constable will do exactly what he (or she) likes.
 There has been a suggestion that the Irish Garda should be used as a model. It was set up in the 1920s and should be examained to see what it has to offer, but the present situation is totally untenable and cannot be allowed to continue.