Extra police on street

Press, 1 February 1983, Page 12

Extra police on street

NZPA staff correspondent London's troubled police have announced moves designed as much to bolster sagging public confidence and co-operation as to further the war on crime. The city’s esteem for its policemen has reached a low in recent years in the wake of widespread charges of corruption, examples of alleged ineptitude — such as the recent ambush and shooting of an innocent man — and the force's inability to stem a rising crime rate. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Kenneth Newman, when he took up the post last year was com fronted with the evidence of deliberate confrontations with some of his officers in some parts of London and the spectacle of witnesses too frightened to come forward for fear of reprisals. Sir Kenneth has detailed major moves which will see more policemen switched to street patrols in an attempt to forge a new alliance with the public. About 650 more men out of the 26,000-strong force will be put back on the beat in areas with high rates of burglary and street-crime. The move represents a major change from the trend towards increasing specialisation involving centrally directed elite anti-crime squads. The criminal department and other units have been asked to make a 10 per cent manpower reduction in favour of a neighbourhood drive on crime.

The Special Patrol Group, which is highly unpopular in parts of .London because of its involvement in episodes such as the 1979 Southall riot which saw the death of a New Zealander, Blair Peach, .will now concentrate on antiburglary patrols although it will also retain its roie as an anti-riot squad. Sir Kenneth said that street crimes, robberies, and burglaries had been identified as ' being the main sources of concern to the public. His neighbourhood drive scheme with its planned closer liaison w'ith the public is based on a campaign which has been used successfully by the Detroit police. The aim is for the local people to keep police informed of suspicious behaviour. In Detroit this has led to the establishment of 4200 "block clubs” with households in the area actively helping the police to prevent crime.

Sir Kenneth said consultative committees would be set up in London districts to achieve similar public involvement in preventing crime. The innovations are also designed to make London’s police commanders more responsive to the public in drawing up local policing strategy, a further area of criticism in recent years. London’s police are directed by the Home Secretary in contrast to the rest of Britain where a local force

has its operational priorities set by a police committee composed of councillors and magistrates. The Leftist-controlled Greater London Council has been at the forefront of demands for greater control of the city's police, and its Labour leader. Mr Ken Livingstone, greeted Sir Kenneth's initiatives stonily. They amounted to “a cosmetic exercise to try to stem the growing demands for detailed local democratic control." he said.