Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer have both pledged to crack down on antisocial behaviour. But policing social problems won’t make them go away
Politicians have been calling for a return to neighbourhood policing ever since Theresa May decimated the service. This week, Rishi Sunak put forward plans for “hotspot” patrols as part of a draconian crackdown on fly-tipping and laughing gas (nitrous oxide). Days earlier, Keir Starmer called for “more visible neighbourhood policing” to fight the “virus” of antisocial behaviour. In 2021, Boris Johnson proposed that every neighbourhood in England and Wales have a named police officer whom residents could contact.
This recognition that police have become inaccessible to the communities they serve is an indictment of Conservative policies. Neighbourhood policing, introduced by New Labour, assigned one sergeant, two constables and two police community support officers to each council ward. In cutting police funding, Mrs May destroyed this model. The Met lost two-thirds of its special constables and half of its support officers after 2010. It closed 126 police stations and merged 32 command units into just 12. Places where people could report crimes in person have been lost, together with the local knowledge of experienced officers. Across England and Wales, over 22,000 officers left the force after 2010.
