Days of Bobby on beat finished

GONE: The old times A TOP police officer has declared the “Bobby on the beat” is a thing of the past.

Acting Inspector Neil Applegarth, head of neighbourhood policing in Oxford, said: “These days we’re not patrolling the streets because we tell our bobbies to go to specific areas for specific reasons.

“They don’t just amble down the street any more.

“If they’ve got the time to be ambling, they’ve got the time to be in a hotspot, to be in a targeted zone, to be visiting a vulnerable person, or to be visiting or chasing an offender.

“And those activities are far more valuable overall in meeting our goals.

“One of the roles of the police is to reduce crime but it’s also to reduce the fear of crime.”

Craig O’Leary, chairman of officers’ union the Thames Valley Police Federation, said the modern approach was down to cuts.

He said: “We have to use our limited resources in more methodically-based processes because we don’t have the resources to send people out on foot beat in areas where, potentially, there is no crime.”

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