THERE are two schools of thought in matters concerning the Island’s system of honorary policing.

One says that, in spite of being a tradition rooted in the ancient past, honorary service is still relevant in the modern world. The opposing view suggests that policing is a matter for professionals and that parochial officers have had their day.

The first of these points of view is supported by the many positive things that can be said about voluntary service at parish level. When it operates as it should the honorary system boosts community values, allows individuals to give as well as take from society, relieves pressure on the professional force and ensures that there is police cover for events that might otherwise go unpoliced.

It can also be argued that honorary officers have a special understanding of the communities in which they live and are often able to apply a lighter touch than uniformed officers – though it can also be argued that this is evident chiefly in the country parishes.

Those, meanwhile, who attack the honorary tradition say that present-day policing is no environment for amateurs and that the honorary system can amount to a clique that is not fully representative of the interests and attitudes of the community that it is meant to serve.

There is, perhaps, little prospect of these separate viewpoints ever being reconciled. However, it sometimes seems as if honorary structures are driven to undermine their own credibility and to offer evidence that the system is, indeed, out of touch with modern life rather than stressing the many benefits that it continues to offer the Island and Islanders.

A case in point is the threat of a fine which currently hangs over the Parish of St Helier because it has been unable to find the tenth of the ten Centeniers it is required to have. If the vacancy is not filled, the parish could have to stump up £5,000.

This might be an incentive to action, but it is a perverse one which, through the publicity that accompanies the slap on the wrist, unintentionally reinforces the idea that serving as a Centenier in St Helier is so onerous that the parish must be coerced into a desperate search for someone to fill the vacant post.

What the parish really requires is encouragement and enough leeway to find a truly suitable candidate for an undeniably demanding role rather than accepting anyone, suitable or otherwise, willing to take on the job.