POLICE officers in England and Wales should face fitness to practise checks every five years as part of efforts to address the crisis in confidence in policing, a major review has said. 

The Strategic Review of Policing in England & Wales, carried out by the Police Foundation, has said a root-and-branch overhaul of policing is needed to tackle corroding confidence and to bring the service into the 21st century.

Speaking at the launch of the review today, chairman Sir Michael Barber warned that falling public confidence in police driven by a string of recent scandals as well as austerity cuts is putting Britain’s “policing by consent” model under threat.