Former Met police chief calls for more local 'bobbies on the beat'

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/24/crime-london-lord-stevens-metropolitan-police

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Former Metropolitan police commissioner Lord Stevens will call for communities to be guaranteed a minimum number of "bobbies on the beat" as figures reveal there are 10,000 fewer frontline officers today than three years ago.

An independent police commission headed by Stevens will warn that neighbourhood policing is under threat as forces struggle under swingeing budget cuts. The police, it will claim, are at risk of merely reacting to crime rather than dissuading people from criminality.

As the Scotland Yard commissioner who introduced neighbourhood policing into London, Stevens will call for every local community to be given a guaranteed level of policing in his report to be published on Monday. He will also insist that the "social mission" of police to improve what he calls the "wellbeing" of communities is also established in law so that every officer knows of his civic purpose.

The recommendation clashes with the stance of home secretary Theresa May, who in her 2010 conference speech insisted that "cutting crime is the only test of a police force".

The commission's report is drawn up with the assistance of 30 universities, former chief constables, former heads of Europol, Interpol and MI6.

Steven's call for action, which is due to feed into Labour's policy review, comes as Labour makes public figures from the House of Commons library showing that 10,460 officers have been lost from the frontline since 2010. The police budget has been cut by 20% in the last three years, equivalent to £2.4bn, and a total reduction of 31,600 including civilian staff in the police workforce is planned by March 2015.

This summer Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) voiced alarm that the British model of neighbourhood policing across England and Wales risked being seriously eroded as beat officers were switched to maintaining the frontline response to 999 emergency calls and investigating crime.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: "Theresa May promised frontline policing would be protected, but her words ring hollow for the communities who have lost so many local police. This analysis shows the frontline losses are already far worse than the experts predicted.

"Theresa May has taken away people's local bobbies, which is exactly what she promised wouldn't happen. Neighbourhood policing is at serious risk. And specialist units have been cut so prosecutions for things like rape and domestic violence are plummeting. That means more criminals are getting off and more victims and communities are being let down."

A Home Office spokesman said: "As HMIC have made clear, there is no simple link between officer numbers and crime levels, or between numbers and the quality of service provided. Our reforms are working and crime is down by more than 10 per cent since the last election."

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