Simon Reevell: The police and public should work together

The Metropolitan Police was so successful in cutting crime that, 30 years later, police forces were created in every city in the country. Peel's thesis was spread to every corner of Britain.

The argument currently being waged between Theresa May, the Home Secretary, and senior police chiefs over the introduction of elected police commissioners is essentially one of accountability. Are the police doing a good job representing their local communities and, if not, who is responsible for ensuring they do?

Every opinion poll published in the last 10 years has shown that the public has fallen out of love with the police. "I haven't seen a copper around here for years" is the stock response when I ask a constituent about crime in the community. A study conducted last year found that just 47 per cent of respondents were happy with the standard of policing. Just over a quarter believed that crime and anti-social behaviour were being dealt with effectively. This at a time when crime is actually falling.

Clearly something is amiss. The police haven't helped themselves with a succession of own goals. But the problem, I believe, runs a lot deeper. Ask any member of the public what most frustrates them about the police and invariably they'll tell you three things. First, that you never see them. Second, that they spend all their time filling in forms. And third, that their priorities are out of sync with those of the community at large. In essence, they are not convinced that the police show enough interest in the bread and butter issues like anti-social behaviour, drug-related crime and alcohol related violence that have become such a problem.

Whether this is true or not, it is a perception that has been allowed to linger and at least part of the reason for this is the limited influence the public has on police operations. Policing in this country is unique in that the levers of local accountability are very weak, especially in relation to the othermajor public services. Ever since the tripartite system of police governance was set up in 1964, chief constables have been accountable in principle to individual police authorities. These are made up of elected local councillors, magistrates and members of the public. In practice, however, the Home Office rules the roost.

Thirteen years of Labour government took their toll. Under successive Home Secretaries, from Jack Straw to Alan Johnson, central diktat and a Whitehall-knows-best mentality was allowed to develop. Chief constables have become accountable to the bureaucracy. Targets and performance indicators are all-important and local accountability has been eroded. The burden of paperwork is now so bad that Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary admitted recently that just 11 per cent of officers are able to meet frontline demands at any one time because the rest are tied up with other duties.

Theresa May's drive to introduce elected police commissioners is the Government's response to this problem. The thrust of it is refreshingly simple. Police authorities will be scrapped altogether. In their place will come a single individual who will oversee the make-up and direction of policing in his or her patch. They will be directly elected by the public and have responsibility for police budgets and personnel. They will have the power to hire and fire chief constables and, more importantly, will be accountable to local communities (who will be able to vote them out if they are not satisfied with their performance).

The policy has the potential to transform neighbourhood policing. Commissioners will have to keep the public onside if they are to secure re-election. This means responding to their needs and priorities and creating a force which focuses on common sense and cost effective crime fighting. The Home Office will be left alone to concentrate on the big policing issues like counter-terrorism and organised crime and chief constables will be free to get on with what they do best – policing the streets and making people feel safer.

The quality of policing is important in a civilised society. The academic Franklin Zimring sought recently to explain the huge drop in crime in American cities throughout the 1990s. His book, The Great American Crime Decline, found that when the police respond to local communities and focus on smaller, quality of life issues like anti-social behaviour and public drinking (like Mayor Giuliani did in New York), they not only put the criminal on notice that such crimes will not be tolerated, they also give reassurance to the public that their concerns are being taken seriously.

Sir Robert Peel thought that "the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon the public approval of police actions". The biggest shake-up of policing in at least 50 years is nearly upon us. Its success will depend on how much it adheres to these basic principles.

Simon Reevell is Conservative MP for Dewsbury