The public rightly expects the police to keep them safe. Yet crime is constantly evolving, with criminals using new tools, technology and tactics to evade the law.
National policing experts – and those of us who hold forces to account on behalf of the public – see this shift every day.
The rapid growth of cybercrime, the persistence of violence against women and girls, and changes in traditional offences such as burglary, theft and antisocial behaviour, all illustrate how dynamic the threat landscape has become.
Against this backdrop, the Government’s ambition to reform policing, alongside its wider commitment to devolution, is welcome.
Publicly funded policing must be able to keep pace with organised criminality and change is essential if we are to keep people safe.
The proposal for a new National Police Service could play an important role in helping policing respond to the most serious organised crime, which pays no heed to force boundaries or national borders.
Its leader will be directly accountable to the Home Secretary, reflecting the need for strong national oversight. But accountability must exist at every level.
We know from years of experience that keeping the public safe requires policing that reflects, respects and listens to the communities it serves. Police and crime commissioners (PCCs), and now deputy mayors, have been central to delivering robust local oversight.
While the National Police Service may require direct national accountability, equally strong arrangements must be in place for regional and neighbourhood policing, to ensure that the public interest is fully protected.
Structural reform must always lead to a better service for the public – safer neighbourhoods, more visible policing and communities that feel heard.
The Government’s pledge to invest in 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers reflects what the public consistently tells us: people want officers they can see and speak to. Delivering this is essential to rebuilding trust and confidence, which has been badly damaged in recent years.
Local partnerships have underpinned many of the positive changes delivered so far. PCCs have worked closely with councils and other agencies to cut duplication, drive efficiency and create practical solutions that respond directly to local needs.
Devolution offers the opportunity to go further and faster, with more mayoral areas gaining police governance powers. These gains must be protected.
To tackle knife crime and violence against women and girls, properly funded local decision-making – independent of the police – is essential. Yet there is a clear tension between the Government’s drive to devolve more responsibility to local areas while simultaneously centralising power over policing. Two major reforms pulling in opposite directions risk weakening police responsiveness, not strengthening it.
Local commissioning must also be safeguarded. Whether working with domestic abusers to change behaviour or supporting young people away from offending, these interventions prevent crime before it happens.
When people do become victims, local services help them recover and navigate the justice system.
Whatever the future structure of policing, one principle must guide reform: improvements must be tangible to the public.
That will only be achieved through collaboration between national and local government, policing leaders, councils and the communities we serve. Locally, regionally and nationally, collaboration is where real progress lies.