Where are the police

As police stations have closed and foot patrol has given way to modern policing methods, the police have become increasingly alienated from the public.  The way to rebuild public confidence and tackle crime is to have police officers on the streets.  But the re-introduction of community policing has been inadequate.  Record numbers of officers have not been reflected in officers on the beat, and key Government programmes such as promised Police Community Support Officers and the national non-emergency number have been scaled back.

Policing can be a difficult and dangerous job.  Ten British police officers have died as a result of attacks since the beginning of the new millennium alone.  We must never take for granted the sacrifices the police make to protect us, and uphold law and order.

The police are still respected, but only 50 per cent of the public think the police in their area do an excellent or good job.  Satisfaction is lower amongst victims of crime than the general public.  Trust in the police is lower than trust in doctors, teachers, judges or the NHS.  A new survey has shown that less than a quarter of the public think that policing in their area has improved, less than half think that increases in council tax to pay for improvements to local policing in the last ten years have been good value for money, and nearly three-quarters do not know any of the police officers in their neighbourhood.

Over the past 14 years, 880 police stations have closed.  Today only one police station in eight is open 24 hours a day, and nearly half of all forces do not have a single station open around the clock.  These station closures have coincided with the police moving from foot patrols into panda cars as they have prioritised fast response times to 999 calls.

The Government has shelved the 101 national non-emergency number.  The public’s perception of a lack of police visibility and responsiveness has been exacerbated by what is widely seen as a stark contrast between forces’ commitment to enforcing motoring offences and other low level crime.  The police and the public have never been more remote from each other.  [Read more]

Police officer numbers have reached record levels, at around 140,000 full-time equivalent officers in England and Wales.  Yet this remains low by international standards. In England and Wales there are 264 officers per 100,000 of the population, but the figure is 387 in France, 457 in New York, and 467 in Chicago.

There was a received wisdom in the Home Office and academia that police action could not cut crime.  However, evidence from home and abroad has convincingly demonstrated that this fatalistic perspective is wrong. 

An increased police presence on the streets cuts crime.  A study of the aftermath of 7/7, when increased police numbers on the streets in six London boroughs led to falls in crime, suggests that a 10 per cent increase in police deployment reduces the crime rate by approximately 3 per cent.  [Read more]

Following the election of Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the appointment of Commissioner William J. Bratton, New York City experienced a drop in crime of 75 per cent from peak rates in the 1990s, almost twice the national average.  Three key factors accounted for the success: an increase in police officers on the streets, robust community policing and management accountability.  [Read more]

A huge majority of the public – 83 per cent – supports a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to all crime, with highly visible policing on the streets, bearing down heavily on things like antisocial behaviour and vandalism.

The sheer scale of crime should not lead to the fatalistic conclusion that it is an intractable problem.  Half of all crime is committed by just 100,000 criminals.  That is less than the total number of police officers (140,000).  8 per cent of crime is committed by 5,000 criminals, an average of 116 criminals per police force.

The Government’s vague pledge of a dedicated neighbourhood policing team in every area by 2008 is not being met.  Only the Metropolitan Police now have “Safer Neighbourhood Teams” of one sergeant, two constables and three PCSOs in every ward.  Nationally, less than 10 per cent of police officers in England and Wales are dedicated to neighbourhood policing.

The Government will now provide 8,000 fewer PCSOs than it promised in its election manifesto.  Figures published in January 2007 showed that for the first time since 2000 police numbers fell by 173 from March to September 2006.

The latest Home Office figures have revealed that only 14 per cent of all police officer time is spent on patrol and that only one in 58 police officers is patrolling the streets at any given time.  Our case study in Basingstoke showed that on one day this town of nearly 150,000 people had effective response cover of just one sergeant and four officers.  [Read more]