How to beat crime? PCs who know their patch
IT’s frustrating to read how the once respected police service of england and wales — one I gave more than half my life to — has been taken over by political correctness, staff focused on promotion and indecisive senior management. No wonder there’s a policing crisis in england and wales when sara Thornton, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, claims (Mail) patrols do not prevent crime or make people feel safer, and also warns that, in future, the police will not be sent to lowcrime areas. Having retired from the Metropolitan Police four years ago after 32 years’ service, I can assure Ms Thornton that now, as always, the public do want to see a regular police officer in their street. It makes them feel safe. a low-crime area soon becomes a highcrime area when the criminals, either bigtime or petty, realise they have a free rein. I used to get my team of constables to patrol the area where I now live by getting out of their vehicle and engaging with the public. They were always available to jump back in their vehicles to attend elsewhere if necessary. I know the community was reassured by this because I used to speak to them both as a sergeant leading a response team working shifts and in my earlier days as a constable. The information I received was invaluable, and the gratitude of elderly residents, families, shopkeepers and others was always freely given and gave me purpose and job satisfaction. areas once patrolled by a single officer, a Home Beat, are now patrolled, supposedly, by a team consisting of a sergeant, a few regular officers and a contingent of powerless police community support officers (who are paid more than a regular police officer). a Home Beat knew the community, spoke to shopkeepers, doctor’s surgeries, schools, pub landlords, housing associations and others, and watched the local children grow up. This was an invaluable source of information and intelligence. we are often told that crime has been reduced. wrong. People now have such a low expectation that police will actually do anything that they don’t report crimes. There used to be something called a ‘career constable’, an officer with no aspirations for promotion, but rather a desire to serve the public both as a law enforcer and as a community arbiter, resolving situations. what happens now is that police unfamiliar with an area and lacking knowledge of local feelings turn up en masse and escalate the situation. There are innumerable examples of this up and down the country where, in the first instance, the wrong people are arrested. This is usually because police have earlier failed to respond to local concerns of hooliganism and anti-social behaviour that used to be dealt with by one officer before it got out of hand. Policing was always undertaken with the consent of the public and I can remember when it was just that. when that consent is taken for granted and abused, it is subsequently withdrawn because the public have simply lost confidence in the police service. when that happens, the police no longer have the right to expect that consent and support — they have to re-earn it.
Chris Reid, Biggin Hill, Kent.