Clive Bull | The Whole Show
| 2h 11m 17s | 24.11.13
Putting more police officers on the beat should be at the
forefront of efforts to restore public confidence, according to a
blueprint for reform by a former Scotland Yard commissioner. | 2h 11m 17s | 24.11.13Lord Stevens will unveil the Independent Police Commission report later today and set out a raft of recommendations to transform policing in England and Wales.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Lord Stevens, who introduced neighbourhood policing to the Metropolitan Police 10 years ago, said a community approach was needed.
Police are "sadly deteriorated" in the public's eye, he said, and fewer crimes are being solved.
The commission believes the Government should have a Local Policing Commitment, giving every neighbourhood a guaranteed level of policing.
It says there should be guaranteed response times and that every crime should be investigated - or an explanation given as to why not.
Lord Stevens said: "This is the level of service that the public has a right to expect but that has deteriorated in front of its eyes."
Police are returning to a "discredited" style of policing, reacting to incidents rather than responding to the root causes of crime, he said.
Among the 37 recommendations by Lord Stevens' commission are that the social purpose of the police should be enshrined in law, bringing "much-needed consensus" to what the public expect of the police.
Lord Stevens, who was commissioned to carry out the report by the Labour party, said the current programme for reform was "confused" and "fragmented".
He said: "With fewer crimes being solved, a return to merely reactive policing that the public do not favour, Plebgate, Hillsborough and the identity crisis of Police and Crime Commissioners, it is no secret that policing in England and Wales faces challenges."
At the Labour-commissioned report's launch, Labour leader Ed Miliband will say the threat to neighbourhood policing highlighted in Lord Stevens' report is of "profound concern".
He is expected to say: "This review is the first step in setting a new direction for policing in the 21st century.
"Neighbourhood policing was pioneered by Labour. It wasn't just a slogan, it was a different philosophy of policing: policing rooted in local communities, doing more than reacting to crimes by also preventing them, and working in partnership with local authorities, schools and the NHS.
"So it is of profound concern to me that the independent commission concludes that neighbourhood policing is under threat. We don't want to see services retreating back to their silos, becoming more remote from communities."
http://www.lbc.co.uk/policing-more-bobbies-on-the-beat-needed-81859
