THE HEAD of Lancashire's police force, Pauline Clare, has the honour of being Britain's first woman chief constable. But to that there is now added the grim distinction of her being one of the most severely-criticised by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary in recent years.

For their report into Lancashire Constabulary can only be described as scathing.

But what is most significant is that Mrs Clare collects this fierce criticism not so much as the force's most senior officer with whom the buck stops, but as an individual target whose management style is blamed for numerous failures following the big shake-up of policing in Lancashire which began last year.

When she was appointed three years ago, Mrs Clare promised to put more bobbies on Lancashire's streets. And central to this move was the switch of the force from 14 divisions to six, with many posts at headquarters being shaken out and command devolved to the divisions.

But while there is nothing wrong with the overall vision and policy of a "geographical" style of policing, the problems that have arisen in Lancashire are put down not just to the extent and paces of the changes, but largely to management attitude. In the main, this amounts to a failure to listen to criticism or advice, leading to uncertainty in the ranks as to whether alternative views are accepted by management and even the upshot of divisional commanders having to ignore the inflexible dictates from headquarters in order to deliver proper policing in the areas they cover.

In short, what is implied is that Mrs Clare is both bossy and stubborn - to the extent that policing and morale have suffered. This could hardly be more damning for her.

It is the effects that concern the Inspectors - and us.

For it is reported that, apart from a welcome reduction in house burglary, crime trends in Lancashire are worrying and detection has suffered through CID officers losing focus on their task through the devolution process which. it is said, has detectives reporting to "geographic" inspectors lacking in management skills.

Elsewhere, in traffic for instance, different divisions have developed different policing methods and casualty-reduction targets are likely to be missed. The lack now of a central criminal justice department has meant outside bodies often do not know who to deal with. Complaints against the police have gone up and the time it takes to investigate them has shot up. We had a telling snapshot of the effects and attitude behind these sort of problems only last month when Lancashire Police Federation complained that officers on night patrols were being dangerously deprived of adequate back-up if incidents escalated -yet nothing had been done despite their concerns being voiced since January.

All this, then, is a worrying mess. But while such situations may arise from wide-ranging and fast-moving upheaval, it is the Inspectors' view that, in Lancashire, the cause lies mainly in management style.

In view of this and the extent to which this verdict is repeated and elucidated in the Inspectors' report, Mrs Clare certainly needs to review her outlook. And, perhaps, she might also examine her own position.

Certainly, Home Secretary Jack Straw, having this mess exposed on his own doorstep in Lancashire, ought to be having a word in her ear.

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