Raise taxes by 45p a week to fund thousands of community police, think tank urges

A report by Onward has called for taxpayers to pay an extra 45p a week in return for two new local support officers in their area.

Researchers found that despite an overall decline in crime in recent years other offences such as antisocial behaviour remain high, with neighbourhood policing falling by 10 per cent in the last decade.

In addition the number of community support officers have nearly halved while special constables fell by two thirds.

James Cleverly, the Home Secretary said neighbourhood policing is “key” and that more needs to be done “to ensure people feel safer”.

West Yorkshire saw the largest decrease in neighbourhood police officers in the country, down by 76 per cent, while South Yorkshire saw numbers drop by 11 per cent.

However, in North Yorkshire, the force saw the largest increase in England and Wales, up by over 500 per cent, while Humberside’s numbers went up by 140 per cent.

Jonathan Evison, Humberside’s Police and Crime Commissioner, who was among 10 PCCs who endorsed the report, adding: "Neighbourhood policing matters. Only through visible, trusted local forces can we build public confidence and increase a sense of safety.

“This report sets out a credible and welcome path to renewing neighbourhood teams, and reflects work already underway in my area."

Polling has suggested that the public are unhappy with the amount of crime they are experiencing in their local area, with the proportion of the public saying they have experienced antisocial behaviour having increased by a fifth since 2012, despite reports to the police falling by 55 per cent.

Onward has urged the Government to tackle this through a new Neighbourhood Policing Uplift Programme to put officers back in the community hiring 3,000 neighbourhood police officers, 10,000 police community support officers (PCSOs) and 6,000 special constables over the next five years, costing nearly £600 million a year.

It said that this could be paid for using a “ring fenced one-off council tax increase” which it argued would only cost taxpayers on average 45p a week, calling on ministers to scrap the £13 cap on council tax increases Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) can introduce to empower them to deliver the programme.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Under this Government violent crime and burglary are down by over a half since 2010, reoffending has fallen and the public are safer. But we need to do more to ensure people feel safer too – it is no consolation to a victim of crime to be told that crime is falling overall. Onward is spot on in recognising that visible, neighbourhood policing is key to this.

"Our Antisocial Behaviour Plan is helping drive down the crimes that blight our communities. We have secured an agreement from police to follow all reasonable lines of enquiry as the public would rightly expect, and I have been clear that officers should be focusing on core policing on the beat and visible in their areas.

"Onward have focused their report on an area of policing that deserves attention – and one that I am absolutely committed to. Whilst we may not support each and every one of their proposals, I welcome the thinking that Onward have provoked and would encourage policing to read it carefully.”

Callum Newton, Senior Researcher at Onward, said: "Crime is falling to record levels across the country, yet many people still feel unsafe in their communities. The decline of neighbourhood policing has created a vacuum for criminals in some of Britain’s most disadvantaged areas.

"The Government cannot allow this to continue. Government and Chief Constables should work together to introduce a new Neighbourhood Policing Uplift Programme designed to combat crime, build trust and re-establish police presence on Britain’s streets.”