The government has promised to halve serious violence, tackle the scourge of violence against women and girls, and rebuild public confidence in policing by getting police back on the beat.
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00:00The police force are the first people we call when we've had a break-in, a car theft, an
00:09assault, or any sort of manner of crimes.
00:13Here people get a crime number for the insurance, and of course that's the end of it, and the
00:18idea that what they've been subject to will never be investigated.
00:23It makes people feel uneasy, so that sense that criminality is being unpunished and in
00:29deed, of course, we've heard so many stories in recent weeks about jails being full, and
00:34indeed those who've gone to prison being released early.
00:37So it kind of undermines the whole system of justice, because of course there is the
00:42idea of catching these people, putting them, or giving them the adequate punishment, and
00:47if that requires prison, so be it.
00:49With that in mind, what sort of a role does political leadership play in ensuring that
00:53law enforcement agencies are adequately supported to solve crime?
00:57People do want to see community-based policing, because of course policing is of the community
01:02and for the community, and therefore, of course, if they could have a local police officer
01:08who they could talk to about the issues, and they would be on top of what's going on, because
01:12quite often it's the low-level stuff that's what causes the most aggravation.
01:16Quite clearly, if there's a major incident, we expect the police to respond.
01:20But ultimately, in terms of leadership, it will always come from central government,
01:25and of course the message we're getting from central government at the moment is
01:29the pot is pretty empty.
01:31In fact, there is no money, as that famous memo from the 2010 election went.
01:38And so the reality is, what does any extra resources be spent on?
01:44Is it the health service?
01:45Is it education?
01:46Is it defence?
01:47Of course, that's another big problem.
01:49Or is it about policing of the community?
01:51So big questions.
01:54And dare I say, I think it's certainly an issue that didn't get enough attention in
01:57the most recent election.