Saturday - September 20, 2008

Watchdog criticises police chief for sending officers to every crime. (we by gosh can’t have that)

I guess I missed something again. I always seem to miss something right under my nose.

I just don’t get it.  OK, I understand financial concern.  (of course the gument has 20 or so billion for 2012 Olympics)
I kinda thought it was important if not a matter of course, to have cops at the scene. Perhaps some crimes don’t require an officer.
Could that be so? 

Watchdog criticises police chief for sending officers to every crime.

A police chief has been criticised by a government watchdog for sending officers out to every crime.

By Nick Allen
Last Updated: 10:40PM BST 19 Sep 2008

Essex chief constable Roger Baker was censured for his conscientious approach to crime fighting because it was said to put an unnecessary strain on police resources.

The bizarre rebuke came in a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary which said Mr Baker’s insistence on sending officers to see every victim of a crime, and taking a statement, took up too much time.

The report said: “While attending every crime is a highly effective method of engagement, it is felt by a number of staff interviewed that taking a statement at each crime is not always necessary and can be time-consuming.”

Mr Baker defended his methods which he believes are what the public want.

Sending an officer to every crime is part of increasing the visibility of officers and making them more accessible to the public.

Mr Baker said: “We will continue with our policing style which includes attending all crime, increasing police visibility, opening more police stations, tackling crime robustly and bringing offenders to justice.

“The public are our biggest partner and we will continue to listen to them and work with them to provide the service they ask for.”

Local politicians threw their weight behind the Essex chief constable and said a visit from police was the least a tax-paying victim of crime could expect.

John Baron, the Conservative MP for Billericay, said: “What else are we paying for? We want reassurance from the police that they are dealing with criminals and doing their best to fight crime.

“I hear too many complaints from constituents that they do not hear from police when reporting a crime.

“What Roger Baker introduced was a breath of fresh air and for civil service bureaucrats to criticise it is very wrong.”

Bob Spink, the UKIP MP for Castle Point, said: “This shows how out of touch Westminster is with real people. I very warmly congratulate Roger Baker on his policy, which is bearing fruit.”

Mr Baker joined the Essex force in 2005 and has introducing policies to bolster front line policing, focusing on making officers a more visible presence on the streets and targeting low-level crime like vandalism and criminal damage. On his first day in the job he demanded that his officers make 600 extra arrests within a week

He recently unveiled plans to get an extra 110 officers on the streets by March and 600 over the next five years.

The Essex chief constable has been a thorn in the side of the Home Office, criticising the lack of officers on the streets and the fact that victims are given crime numbers instead of being visited personally.

He recently warned that beat officers could disappear within a decade as traditional police constables are replaced by police community support officers (PCSOs) who do not have powers to arrest and are restricted to handing out fines for minor misdemeanours.

Earlier this month it emerged that Mr Baker has also ordered his beat officers to remove their sunglasses when they make contact with the public because they can intimidate people.

The sunglasses ban is based on a similar theory to that employed by British armed forces as they tried to win the “hearts and minds” of Iraqi civilians after the 2003 invasion.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “We aim to reduce crime and the fear of crime and bring offenders to justice.”

In the past two years the style of policing in Essex had contributed to there being 13,000 fewer victims of crime, the spokesman said.

http://tinyurl.com/4j529a

Posted by Drew458     on 09/20/2008 at 12:27 PM   
Filed Under: • Crime • UK •  
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