Ray Mallon, the former police commander nicknamed 'Robocop' for his zero-tolerance approach to policing, is to advise the Centre for Social Justice.

Mallon, who is the independent elected mayor of Middlesbrough, will head a policy group for the think-tank led by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith.

He will lead an inquiry into tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the former Cleveland Police superintendent said: "Policing over the last 20 years have become very complicated and what we have got to try to do is simplify it.

"What I will be trying to do with this group is concentrating on what the police are doing and how they are doing it.

"I think the police have become far too reactive rather than proactive. They have got to manage the incident overload they have got at the present time, because they can't go on like this.

"The police have over 50 performance-type indicators from the government. It is policing by prescription."

Mallon said the targets should make reducing crime and anti-social behaviour the top priority, allowing officers to focus on cutting the number of incidents rather than responding to calls from the public.

Cameron has previously committed his party to a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour, knife and gun crime, modelled on a successful scheme in New York.

Mallon, who was first elected in 2001, also said he disagreed with the Tory policy of directly-elected police chiefs.

Asked if he supported the plan, he said: "My straightforward thought is no. I want police officers to come through the ranks and become chief constables.

"There is some merit in looking at it, but my view is that, at the present time, we have got it just about right."