Government unveils plans for smarter working to help Police fight crime and tackle antisocial behaviour

New measures announced to fight crime

Anew programme of measures to help the police work smarter to fight crime,
tackle anti-social behaviour and further
increase public confidence was launched
by the Home Secretary in December.

Plans set out in the government's policing
white paper aim to make the police more
accountable to the public and deliver significant cost savings by working
better in partnership, improving efficiency and standardising procurement.

Protecting the public: supporting the police to succeed builds on the
successful reforms in the 2008 policing green paper that have put the public at the heart of policing. This has been
achieved through neighbourhood policing, the single confidence target, the policing pledge and the 'Justice seen, justice done' campaign.

The white paper sets out a programme
that includes supporting the public
and meeting their expectations by:

• £2.5m to improve working between police
and councils to identify and tackle antisocial behaviour
• New police 'report cards' by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
to give the public a clear view on the
quality of police services in their area from March 2010
• Expecting basic command units and the
equivalent to hold meetings at least three
times a year with local people
• Giving the Independent Police Complaints
Commission new powers to uphold complaints
where there has been no individual misconduct.

Protecting the public by:

• Legislating to provide PCSOs with extra powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Strengthening accountability includes:

• Having lead police authority members who will address public concerns in each local area and be contactable by the public
• Giving members of the public the power to sit on local authority 'Crime and disorder overview and scrutiny committees' to hold local partners to account.

Continuing to cut bureaucracy by:

• Developing standard national uniforms for police officers and PCSOs
• National procurement for a standard
'beat car' for all forces
• Standardised body armour.