Jayne Dowle: Treat our police as professionals, not fancy dress guests

It is pretty obvious that if we see uniformed coppers doing the crossword on the train or standing at the bus stop, it will look like there are more of them than there really are.

In other words, it’s an optical illusion to disguise the fact that our police forces are experiencing unprecedented cuts to their staffing.

Now you see them, in uniform, but in civvies, now you don’t. If this was an episode of Miss Marple, the perpetrator would be led off in cuffs to face a long stint for deception via sleight-of-hand.

As it is, Blair Gibbs, head of crime and justice at the Policy Exchange think-tank, will only admit that seeing officers in uniform, even if they haven’t technically clocked on to their shift, will help to reassure the public. He reckons – and heaven knows how he has done the maths – that this would equate to having 1,200 more policemen and women on the streets.

Oh dear. Even a rubbish detective like me knows that outside London at least, it is more likely that a police officer will drive to work than wait about for public transport. And excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but if they’re sat in the car, no-one will see what they are wearing. So what would be the point of them putting on their uniform at home? And if they were to take public transport, they might as well stamp “sitting target” on their heads.

Mr Gibbs clearly has never been on a bus. A police officer would be a magnet for every kind of undesirable that you can imagine. And what if serious trouble did break out? Say, a passenger was stabbed. Their instincts would be to step in and try and sort it out. The other passengers would expect nothing less of them. Alone, without the protection of a stab-vest or radio, their chances would be exactly the same as any other member of the public. Except that an angry assailant might be further enraged by the sight of the police badge.

The criticism Mr Gibbs and his think-tank has come in for is bad enough, but it is as nothing compared to the headlines should a policewoman end up with a knife through her neck on the top deck of the number 37.

This plan obviously has only the briefest acquaintance with anything approaching reality.

It doesn’t take Miss Marple to work out that if a police officer is wearing a uniform it signifies that they are on duty, even if they are not. I don’t know about you, but I’m old-fashioned enough to immediately straighten up and speak politely if I come within 20 yards of anybody in anything vaguely regimental, and that includes nuns. Other people are hardly going to treat an off-duty officer normally.

Perhaps she’s a mum, dropping off the kids at school en route to the station. Half the playground would stand to attention, and the other half would scarper. If this barmy idea ever comes to pass, I’m wondering whether there would be a slew of officers arguing that their human right to a peaceful private life has been breached.

Not for nothing do police employees refer to their occupation as “the job”. It is unlike any other line of work. I have scant acquaintance with the ways of the criminal underworld, but my cousin and several friends are serving officers. So I do understand why it is not always desirable for certain neighbours to know what they do for a living. Leaving the house in uniform is a pretty big giveaway. We don’t live in Heartbeat country any more. Police officers are more likely to get a brick through their window than a nice jar of home-made jam on their doorstep.

We all want proof that our taxes pay for effective bobbies on the beat, but this knee-jerk notion adds nothing sensible to a debate crucial for our personal safety and national security. It is far too simplistic. As Greater Manchester Chief Constable Peter Fahy, who represents the Association of Chief Police Officers, points outs, modern policing is about more than “visibility”, it is about understanding the expertise which so often happens behind the scenes.

No profession is perfect, we know that. But our police officers should be treated with the respect they deserve, not like guests at a fancy dress party invited to make up the numbers.