Fears about the vanishing “bobby on the beat” have been unveiled in a new report.
And with West Yorkshire Police losing hundreds of officers in the coming years, there was growing pressure on the region’s police commissioner to act.
Mark Burns-Williamson is planning action in the wake of a disturbing report by the Independent Police Commission.
Among other things, the report calls for a guaranteed level of bobbies on the beat in the face of alarming cuts in the numbers of frontline officers.
The West Yorkshire force has seen an 11% cut in numbers over the past three years and faces more cuts in the wake of big budget cuts.
The force is expected to see numbers reduced by a further 699 officers between now and 2015.
Mr Burns Williamson said: “In the absence of a Royal Commission, I welcome the Stevens Review as it is an important piece of work into the future of policing, long overdue.
“I also welcome that after extensive consultation Lord Stevens has rightly put a social justice model of neighbourhood policing at the heart of his vision 'Policing for a Better Britain'.
“West Yorkshire Police has already made huge strides in making the reforms needed to meet the significant challenges we face here. We are creating more effective partnerships to prevent crime and to better solve problems such as anti-social behaviour at a local level. Working together to tackle crime, but also the causes and consequences of crime and build consensus in our communities.
“We are continuing to embed neighbourhood policing with the number of policing districts reduced from eight to five, better aligning with district council boundaries and councillor areas to enable more seamless partnership working.
“Along with council leaders and other partners, I have protected the levels of Police and Community Support Officers across West Yorkshire, have passported across funding to Community Safety Partnerships at the same level despite the severe cuts, and have increased the council precept to recruit 44 frontline police officers”.
The IPC report, presented by Lord Stevens, prompted a wave of political concerns.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said “What Lord Stevens is saying is that this is about a mindset, a change in attitude that seems to be taking place in policing, and that there’s a retreat going on from neighbourhood policing, a retreat from the bobbies on the beat, and that this reflects in part what Theresa May has said - is that policing is just about crime fighting, pure and simple.
“What Lord Stevens and his commission are saying is, in fact, policing is about prevention of crime, it’s about working with communities, it’s about respectful law and order, it’s about public safety.”
