‘If they took it seriously, we wouldn’t have to do their job’
REACTION TO CHIEF CONSTABLE’S CALL FOR PUBLIC TO HELP KEEP NEIGHBOURHOODS SAFE
AFTER a senior officer suggested that members of the public could take a ‘bigger role’ in keeping neighbourhoods safer amid falling police numbers, Telegraph readers’ reaction has been overwhelmingly negative.
West Midlands Chief Constable David Thompson said the public could become more “active citizens” in their communities, and act as “extra eyes, ears and – on occasion – hands” of the police.
He added he would “never ask the public to do the job of police”, and was not expecting people to “jump in and do dangerous things”.
Mr Thompson said: “One shift I would like to see in 2018 is the public playing a bigger role, involving the public as active citizens in their area.
“It’s not about doing the job of the police, but playing a stronger part in their communities, keeping an eye out for neighbours or mobilising and helping the police when we perhaps need a bit of assistance”.
West Midlands Police’s top officer said he wanted to see a change in people’s attitudes as he pointed to his own force’s loss of more than 2,000 officers since 2010 due to budget cuts.
Mr Thomspon, who runs the largest police force outside London, said: “I’d never ask the public to do the job of the police, but there’s a lot less police.
“There’s 2,200 less police officers here in the West Midlands, since 2010.
“It’s a big reduction and I’m not surprised some of our visibility feels a bit lower in communities.”
He said such help might extend to simply looking out for neighbours or delivering advice leaflets in their local area, after a spate of burglaries. Mr Thompson said: “What we would all recognise is living in communities, there’s probably a bit more we can do to keep an eye on our neighbours, to keep an eye on what’s going on in the area, actually to challenge very basic things, to act as extra eyes, ears and – on occasion – hands for the police.” He added that he was also having to “look more carefully” at use of resources in criminal investigations, as the force lives within its means, amid an overhaul of its workings - dubbed WMP2020 - to create a more efficient organisation. Mr Thompson said the rule of law was still “really important”, and that criminals would always be hunted. “But at the same time things have got a lot more complex,” he added, saying there was “a precious level of resource, particularly to investigate crime”. He added: “I don’t believe in drawing a line under certain things (offences). “What we try and do is make really good decisions and trust our officers... and to prioritise what we do.” We shouldn’t have to, they get money out of us, put lights back on and things will improve. This guy has lost the plot!
He should be lobbying the government for more money, it’s our taxes they spend so why not put some more of it into the police and other front line services. You would think number one on the agenda of any government should be the care and protection of the public. Sadly I feel a majority of this government believe their own interests are paramount.
Ok reduce our council tax then and I will. Since I’m paying for a sodding service. Honestly!
Three times I stopped police in the street to report something and they always walked off. If they took it seriously then we would not need to do their job.
We shouldn’t have to, they get money out of us, put lights back on, and things will improve this guy’s lost the plot!
Then get arrested for doing it yourself what do we pay our taxes for again?
So they are asking us to do the job of the police while asking us not to do the job of the police!
We pay tax for the police service to ensure that public safety is paramount along with dealing with the criminals etc... Yet it’s still a failure service!
Like the hunt sabs who constantly provide proof of hunting and the police do nothing?
Well how about spending some money on building prisons and keep the criminals off our streets? Then we will not have to deal with them ourselves.