It seems to be true that although the crime rate has fallen over the last eight years, the fear of crime has continued to rise. There are many reasons for this but an important one may be that members of the public feel that the police service is too remote and that it is simply not there when they need it. Few people know how our local police force is organised and when people do try to phone the police they are often advised to contact different police stations and agencies. Making sure that the police have enough police officers and that they are not tied up with paperwork is clearly a priority for improving the police service. However, we must also look at ways to integrate the police more closely into the local community so that the police are more aware of local needs and can work with local community groups to improve safety for all of us.

The Government has recently issued a consultation paper on how to make the police more accountable, accessible and effective. I would like to know your views on this subject so that I can send a submission to the Home Office on your behalf. I will be highlighting some of the issues in this article but you can read the full Police Reform consultation paper at: http://www.policereform.gov.uk/docs/consultation2003.html

Better information

Few people know how their local police force is organised, what the most prevalent crimes in their area are, what the police are doing to tackle crime and how they can help keep themselves and their area safe. Did you know, for instance, that in East Somerset police district (the district including Yeovil, Crewkerne, Ilminster and Chard) there was a 73% increase in robberies but a 5% decrease in the number of thefts from a car between 2001-02 and 2002-03? Would you like to know what Avon & Somerset Constabulary is doing about this?

So, I would like to know what kind of information you would like to receive from the police about law and order issues and how would you like to access it. Do you think it be worthwhile for the police to produce a short newsletter which is available from libraries and supermarkets etc. Perhaps it would be more convenient if the police produced an e-mail update about their activities. Do you think a 'beat surgery' in which a neighbourhood police officer could discuss policing issues with local people would prove popular? There are a number of ways in which people can receive better information from the police but the most important thing is that any initiative does not turn out to be some kind of public relations exercise. People need to receive information which they actually want and in a way everyone can understand.

Community engagement

Receiving information from the police can be useful but there needs to be real communication and co-operation between the police and local people so that the police can adapt their services to people's actual needs. I think that more can to be done to systematise and improve communication between the police, local community groups, and businesses. The main way that this is done now is through Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators. I would like to know if you think this is enough or if you think the Neighbourhood watch scheme can be improved in some way. I expect that many businesses, particularly shops, would like to work more closely with the police to improve community safety. Would it be helpful if there was a named police officer who would be responsible for dealing with business' concerns and who would, for instance, give advice on how to counter shoplifting or fraud? Would a named neighbourhood officer be a better way for businesses, schools and local groups to deal directly with the police?

The Government has introduced the idea of 'neighbourhood panels' made up of representatives of local voluntary bodies involved in community safety issues who could work with the police on a very local level. These panels would be able to feed their ideas about how crime and anti-social behaviour can be tackled in their area to the police and other bodies responsible for community safety so that people could see their views being taken into account - and making a difference. For example, effective panels may be given funding so that they could 'buy in' street wardens. Whatever the panels do, it should all be very much driven by local needs. How do you think that neighbourhood panels could link up local people and the police?

At the moment there are a number of ways in which individuals can help the police, ranging from working as a special constable, acting as a neighbour hood watch co-ordinator or volunteering as police staff. Voluntary staff can help take administration loads off police officers, extend opening hours, staff rural outstations and provide crime prevention advice. Specials are members of the public with full police powers who volunteer for over four hours a week. Obviously, these measures are no substitute for properly trained police officers, but do you think that the police should try to recruit more volunteers and helpers? In what ways could the police make better use of the knowledge, skills and experience of the members of the local community?

Responsiveness

I have been concerned by the call handling systems used by the local police for some time now. People who ring 999 in a non emergency situation are often told to ring the headquarters, or are passed to a local station. Clearly, it is frustrating for the public to be pushed from pillar to post when someone is actually trying to help the police and report a crime. This is why I think the introduction of 3 digit non-emergency number would be so useful. This system is used in a number of different countries such as the United States and allows people to access a range of local civic services. Do you think a non-emergency number is a good idea and, if so, what types of service should you be able to access through it?

Police Structure

The Government has announced in its consultation that it is considering whether the 43 police force structure is the appropriate one for today's policing needs. Locally, we can ask ourselves if Somerset is best served by an Avon & Somerset Police Authority. I have long been concerned that the present Avon & Somerset police force structure makes little sense. A major urban area like Bristol has very different policing needs from a rural county such as Somerset. If one were to design a police authority from scratch I am sure that no one would come up with Avon & Somerset!As there is such an obvious rural-urban split within the Avon & Somerset police force area, I will be asking the Government whether they will review the current situation and look into having a single police authority solely for Somerset, or whether Somerset should be merged with the Dorset Police authority. The successful merger of the Somerset & Dorset Health Authorities shows that this should be seriously considered, and obviously our policing needs are far more compatible than Bristol and Somerset. However, I would like to know what you think about this idea. Do you think it makes more sense for Somerset to either have its own police authority or merge with the more rural Dorset police authority?

What do you think?

I ought to make it clear that although it is important to make the police more responsive and accountable I believe that the most important way to improve the police service in our area is to put more officers on the beat and to tackle unnecessary bureaucracy. You may be interested to know that we lobbied the Police Authority hard for more police officers to be recruited in our area and East Somerset will receive around an additional 28 officers this year. There will also be extra police resources going into areas such as call handling, where the response times for call-handling have often been extremely poor. The additional police should eventually improve response times in rural areas, and I hope that they will also allow us to target some of the major repeat offenders who commit a great deal of the crime in both our towns and our villages.

I would appreciate your views as to how the police service can be made more accessible and adaptable to local people's needs. You can find out more about police reform issues at:

www.homeoffice.gov.uk
www.policereform.gov.uk
www.crimereduction.gov.uk