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Why public want Bobbies on beat
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| NOT CONVINCED: Mike Joslin writes in response to the deputy chief constable's reply to a letter on police resources and priorities |
IN MY VIEW - An Echo Reader's personal opinion
Echo reader Mike Joslin takes issue with the deputy chief constable's defence of police priorities
I READ with some concern the response by the Dorset Police Assistant Chief Constable Adrian Whiting to the letter from Ex-Traffic Cop (So many more demands now on police time and resources', Echo, April 18).
He fails to convince me of the effectiveness of the police force, their management of resources or their overall ethos.
The shift in policing methods that has occurred during the last 65 years is profound - there has been a move of emphasis towards response and away from crime prevention.
This has reduced general police presence in our society which is the strongest deterrent of all to would-be criminals.
Sometimes, four months will pass without me actually seeing a police officer on foot; - more often their presence is indicated by sirens as police cars hurtle to the scene of a crime.
Even the smallest accident appears to demand the attention of many police cars but where all of these vehicles come from with the staff shortages being claimed by Mr Whiting is a puzzle.
He talks about the limitations of his budget and the priorities he is obliged to respond to yet this county spends probably well in excess of £1.5 million a year on manning a helicopter with three shifts of police observers plus aircrew for 365 days of the year.
I cannot believe that it prevents burglaries, muggings, traffic accidents/violations or gun crime. If it did any good at all, it would have been regularly publicised by the Dorset Constabulary but the only report I have read is when it failed to trap some villains who had escaped in a stolen car at Eypes Mouth, a cul-de-sac!
In this age of Information Technology, only very recently has some incentive been taken with regard to the provision of appropriate equipment and the training of police officers in new skills.
As a mediator involved in neighbourhood disputes, I have been told by policemen that they try to steer away from actually charging people since it initiates procedures which demand the completion of scores of reports. The whole process defeats and depresses them.
A recent TV programme stated that about 50 such forms might be needed for one crime. Since a fully-trained police officer must be worth his weight in gold, why isn't IT and the provision of less costly civilian resources used to back them up so that they can achieve their full potential?
Like education and the NHS, the police force has allowed itself to become preoccupied with statistics which can be misleading to say the least.
Mr Whiting is careful to state only that numbers of road deaths and serious accidents have decreased at camera locations'. This doesn't surprise me.
However, they don't have any effect on the vehicles which have recklessly overtaken me between the cameras at Chideock and in Winterborne Abbas to quote just a few examples.
I have nearly been killed by someone who reversed across a pedestrian crossing he had just driven across and I have been confronted by abusive men and women who have blocked hatched areas of intersections.
I have been nosed off my bicycle so often by car drivers at traffic lights, I don't bother to risk my life any more on such a high-risk pastime.
Driving on any of Dorset's roads during the morning rush hour is life-threatening with drivers roaring along 60mph roads at 70, 80 and 90mph with never a police car around.
I am the last person with whom Mr Whiting should argue that statistics show he is satisfying the public's expectations.
I think we are all willing to pay extra for the type of policing we feel we need. It is a pity that the argument has focused on traffic - I believe its neglect is symptomatic of how our police forces are losing touch with reality.
Our views and those of Ex-Traffic Cop do need to be taken seriously if we are to find ways to prevent the decay of social cohesion.
The police have abrogated their reponsibilities for crime prevention in many areas by abandoning the streets to cameras and CCTV where once the Bobby' used to reign supreme.
Since Panda cars became the norm, police officers have elected to respond with maximum sound effect. How different this is to when constables departed singly on rubber-soled shoes to patrol our towns after their 6pm inspections.
If I was a criminal, I am sure I would feel happier knowing I would be alerted by sirens approaching from miles away than never knowing when I might be confronted.
Unless I am completely mistaken, Mr Whiting and his many other colleagues throughout the UK have lost touch with what is important. The crux of the matter is whether the public feel secure and protected.
They do not want to hear reassuring remarks about the recent throat-slashing incident in Weymouth being a one-off'. They want to feel they can use the streets at night with a reasonable chance that they will be just as likely to meet a policeman going about his business as someone armed with a knife.
We need to inculcate feelings of insecurity in the minds of those planning mayhem and not in those of their intended victims.
Many surveys have confirmed that the public need is for more police presence on the streets.
The official reponse is usually patronising and superior. Frequent and disturbing infractions are allowed to take place without the slightest chance of anyone getting caught because there is little chance of culprits being apprehended.
Is it any wonder that road rage, mindless vandalism, offensive behaviour and the inability to walk home at night feeling safe is seriously detracting from our desired quality of life?
The sssistant chief constable asks rhetorical questions about whether we might like to sacrifice other areas of security in favour of more police cars.
It would be more positive if he carried out a one year pilot project to establish just what the outcome would be if he adopted a zero-tolerance campaign in one of Dorset's towns using only officers on foot patrol? I suspect he would find it a far more efficient way to reduce the call-out rates.
However, I accept that Mr Whiting has a much more difficult job than he might have done in the past.
Family life is crumbling and many youngsters are left to their own devices with little firm guidance from parents who in many cases have split up before their children reach puberty.
There is very little by way of example from politicians who seem happy to concentrate more on their own perks and career prospects than doing what is right. Celebrity culture contaminates our ambitions.
We do need to create more talking points in schools, towns and communities to ensure that what cash and resources are available to maintain and improve our social responsibilities are used wisely.
I am not sure this is currently so.
C M D Joslin
Garfield Avenue
Dorchester
10:35am Tuesday 29th April 2008
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