Charles Clarke has defended the government's bid to clamp down on terrorists and other criminals.
Speaking to the Labour conference, the home secretary warned that "the threat of terrorism is real and it is here".
"No one can just close their eyes and hope it goes away," he said.
Clarke told delegates there was an "increasingly potent" threat from terrorism and organised crime at the national level.
But at a local level, the key problem is anti-social behaviour, he argued.
Reforms to the way police forces are organised would help address separate problems, and community policing will be at the heart of the government's plans.
"This is our top policing priority and I am determined that by 2008 every household in the country will know the names, phone numbers and email addresses of the community police officers who are directly and personally responsible for their household," Clarke said.
He promised police forces would be given the legal powers they need to "take on those who disrupt our daily lives".
But the home secretary accepted that "tackling a lack of respect is about more than just cracking down on the most disruptive troublemakers".
"It is about changing attitudes and challenging people to play their part in building a decent society," he added.
"That is why we focus so strongly on offering support to parents who are finding it hard to raise their children right."
And he defended plans for identity cards as "easier for the individual and beneficial for the state".
"It will not remove civil liberties but will give individuals greater control over his identity," Clarke claimed.
"It will not create a Big Brother state, it will help control it."
Clarke said the government had to address a brood range of concerns, ranging from terrorism to yob behaviour.
"Our ambition has to be to use this parliament to resolve the security concerns of the British people," he said.
"The challenges are big but the prize is bigger."
On immigration and asylum he said respective new points and case management systems would allow for more transparency and public confidence.
Clarke told activists that by the time of the next election he wants to have established a "fair system" of immigration and asylum, "eliminated anti-social behaviour", "dramatically" reduced crime and reformed criminal justice in order to bring down re-offending.
"I am acutely aware that this is an ambitious agenda which requires us to place these issues at the forefront of our concern," he said.
"But we have to make these changes happen and I am determined that we will make these changes happen, so that no party will be able to try and mobilise bigotry and hatred by the time we reach the next election."
Earlier he accused the Conservatives of "the most unpleasant and pernicious campaigning by any major political party that I have seen" in their campaigning on crime and immigration concerns.
