Britain's police 'need to get back to basics, says watchdog chief

Britain’s bobbies need to get back to basics: Watchdog tells police to patrol streets and solve burglaries instead of getting into Twitter spats – as victims reveal how rarely cops pick up the phone when they try to report crime

• **Have you been let down by the police after reporting a crime? Please send a brief summary of your story to [email protected]** 

Britain’s police were today warned to get back to basics after a damning report found that public confidence in the service is ‘hanging by a thread’ due to their failures to tackle crime.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Andy Cooke urged officers to stay out of political matters and stop intervening in Twitter spats, and instead focus on deterring and solving crime and disorder.

In his bombshell report published today, Mr Cooke warned public trust in policing was ‘hanging by a thread’ following a series of scandals and officers not tackling the daily neighbourhood crime most people want them to focus on. 

And he said police forces are failing at ‘the basics’ such as picking up phones, attending incidents, investigating crimes and keeping victims informed. 
 
 **Have you been let down by the police after reporting a crime? Please send a brief summary of your story to [email protected]** 

Mr Cooke highlighted the collapse in charging rates which have dropped by two thirds since 2014

Surveys show a steady rise in the number of people who think the police are doing a bad job 

Mr Cooke’s recommendations include: 

• A ‘back to basics’ approach to ensure the public feel they are receiving a high ‘level of service; 
• A return to ‘discipline’ including ‘immaculately polished boots’ and ‘custodian helmets’ as the public need to see professionalism to have confidence in officers; 
• The consistent targeting of local criminals to ensure they are unable to ‘act with impunity’; 
• Avoiding being ‘dragged into political debates’ and distracted by pursuing ‘non-crime hate incidents’; 
• Preserving the right to free speech rather than seeking to ‘champion social change or take sides’.

His intervention has prompted victims of crime to reveal their stories of police failings and their frustration at the lack of neighbourhood officers in their local area. 

Listeners to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme told how they had phoned 101 to report a crime but struggled to get through. 

Meanwhile, one told of being let down by West Midlands Police after an encounter with a dangerous driver.

‘I’d been crossing a zebra crossing when a driver overtook the bus that had been stopping for me and ran at me at high speed,’ they said. 

‘Fortunately I caught sight of this from the corner of my eye and managed to leap out of the way and be sideswiped rather that knocked to the floor and killed. 

‘The driver drove off. I provided all the information to the police, including how to get CCTV from a helpful chap at the bus garage. I heard nothing from them…’

A second listener said there had been an increase in ‘opportunistic parcel theft’ on their street – with eight neighbours having packages stolen.  

‘Known individuals follow vans and pick up parcels if left outside by couriers,’ they said. 

‘If communities can now help identify the usual suspect and help identify the usual suspect, why does it appear to us that nothing is happening?

‘Individual crimes are reported and not joined up, it seems.’ 

A third, Ken Cook in Portsmouth said anti-social behaviour was a ‘regular occurrence’ in the city but he rarely saw police on the streets except from when dignitaries come to visit the Royal Dockyard. 

HMICFRS chief Andy Cooke, who released his first Annual State of Policing report yesterday after taking the job last year, said today that police forces had lost sight of what matters to the public.  

‘There’s a real issue in dealing with the things that the public want the police to focus on – the issues that happen in neighbourhoods and the crimes that happen on a daily basis,’ he told Radio 4. 

‘Sadly to quite a lot of people we’re seeing the police is ineffective with dealing with those problems. There shouldn’t be a situation when the public don’t get a decent level of service from policing on the issues that affect them every day.’ 

‘Policing needs to get back to the basis and it needs the assistance of the government to do so. Neighbourhood policing is the bedrock of British policing. Policing need to build further on that.’ 

Andy Cooke warned public trust in policing was ‘hanging by a thread’ due to officers not tackling the daily neighbourhood crime most people want them to focus on

In his report, Mr Cooke – the former chief constable of Merseyside Police – warned forces have been ‘dragged into political debates’ and distracted by pursuing ‘non-crime hate incidents’.

He said while they might not like the views of the people they were protecting it was not their role to take sides.

‘Discipline is a critical prerequisite for high standards. Over the past decade, to some extent, the police service has lost its discipline,’ he said. 

‘In most forces, gone are the days of immaculately polished boots, ties or cravats and custodian helmets.

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‘But first impressions are important. If the police want to be seen as professional, they need to look professional.’

He continued: ‘If supervisors are letting the small issues go, like officers not looking smart then what over things are they letting go as well? That discipline needs to be drummed into police officers from the start of the service.’

Mr Cooke insisted he was not calling for a return to ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ times, but insisted trust and confidence in policing was at an all-time low and forces needed to ‘show professionalism’ and focus on ‘getting the basics right’.

‘If they can’t get the standards of their appearance right, it raises wider questions about their standards,’ he said.

The chief inspector suggested the police service is at ‘a historic turning point – and there is a limited window of opportunity to repair public trust’. 

‘The fundamental principle of policing by consent, upon which the service is built, is at risk,’ he said. ‘Public confidence hangs by a thread.’

Mr Cooke highlighted the collapse in charging rates which have dropped by two thirds since 2014, while police-recorded crime rose last year to the highest level since records began. ‘Fewer criminals are being caught,’ he said.

‘The police aren’t always focusing on the issues that matter most to the public, and charge rates are far too low. Too often, people offend with apparent impunity, and the police aren’t targeting them consistently.’ 

Mr Cooke said: ‘Policing needs to get back to the basis and it needs the assistance of the government to do so’  

He added: ‘The police are facing rising demand from the public and, quite simply, they aren’t keeping up. At best, people can be left dissatisfied; at worst, people can be left at risk.’

Mr Cooke described how victims face a ‘postcode lottery’ and ‘in too many cases, lose confidence in the criminal justice system and withdraw from the process entirely.’

He called for ‘definitive action’, saying chief constables won’t fix things by ‘issuing glossy strategies, mission statements, visions, concordats or the like’.

READ MORE – Man on trial accused of shooting dead Met policeman Matt Ratana 

‘The police must uphold the law as it is written. They aren’t there to champion social change or take sides. This includes a requirement to preserve all rights, including the right to free speech,’ he said. 

Mr Cooke is now calling for new legal powers for inspectors so they can order failing forces to improve when there are serious concerns.

Yesterday he urged Home Secretary Suella Braverman to give inspectors a say on the vetting and recruitment of chief officers and the ability to scrutinise the work of police and crime commissioners.

Mr Cooke argues that in too many instances, chief constables are ignoring recommendations from the watchdog, but the new powers would mean forces would be legally required to comply.

He insisted policing was not ‘broken beyond repair’, but concluded: ‘It needs to reset its compass and do so quickly; the police can and must do better.’

In a rare positive note, the chief inspector praised forces for their commitment to attend every home burglary, which the Daily Mail revealed yesterday.

Andy Marsh, head of the College of Policing, said: ‘The report illustrates the need for policing to produce action not words.

‘Public trust has been eroded, and it can only be re-established by a service which focuses on catching criminals and fighting crime.’

National Police Chiefs’ Council chairman Gavin Stephens, added: ‘Policing must continue to do more to earn back the trust and confidence of the public.’ 

**Have you been let down by the police after reporting a crime? Please send a brief summary of your story to [email protected]** 

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