|
 New
figures expose Labour's failure on crime
Police
officers in Lambeth are being held back by Whitehall red tape
that prevents them from patrolling the streets and catching
criminals. In a classic case of short-sightedness, just when the
Vassall Neighbourhood Police Team was beginning to succeed at
controlling crime, it has been stripped of one of its PCs. Local
resident and community campaigner Stuart Barr commented: "Has it
not occurred to managers and their political masters that
recorded crime has stabilised because of the extra PC?
With resources taken away, Vassall is being left to struggle
again.
"Worse still
is the news that it's harder than ever to actually report a
crime. Kennington Police Station now regularly closes its
crime-reporting desk to the public for up to 45 minutes at a
time due to insufficient staff. With the online service
discontinued and phones going unanswered for lengthy periods,
reporting crime has become a tedious task. In these
circumstances, how can we trust the police's own statistics on
crime anymore?"
Conservatives
want to see a stronger emphasis on neighbourhood policing and a
greater say for local people in how police forces are run.
Conservatives are calling for:
-
More
police officers on the front-line: Through greater
co-operation between forces, introducing performance-related
pay, and by scrapping unnecessary forms and bureaucracy.
-
Greater
police accountability: Replacing unelected police
authorities - which are too weak in relation to central
government invisible to the public - with directly elected
police commissioners.
-
More
prison places: Providing sufficient prison capacity to
increase offenders' chances of being properly rehabilitated
and reduce reoffending. Money saved by scrapping the
government's unnecessary ID Cards project could be used to
fund this.
-
Tackling
drug problems: Increasing the level of drug rehabilitation
for young people to tackle the causes of crime.
Stuart
said: "The Government needs to do more to tackle the scourge of
drugs which fuels all other crime, ruins communities and
destroys lives. Violent crime is compounded by the crisis in our
prisons. With offenders being released early or escaping jail
completely, criminals are not deterred from committing violent
crime, nor do they receive proper rehabilitation." |
