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The following article, by Nick Herbert, appeared in Police Review magazine today.

鈥楾he Home Secretary and I could not have been more clear.听The primary mission of the police is to cut crime.听This mission is hardly new.听The founder of modern policing, Sir Robert Peel, spelt it out in his first principle: 鈥淭he basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder鈥�.

Unacceptable behaviour

Peel鈥檚 equal focus on 鈥渄isorder鈥� rings true today, because for millions of people, antisocial behaviour is a huge concern.听Fighting crime often begins with tackling unacceptable behaviour, and such behaviour is often crime.听 HMIC鈥檚 recent report suggested that 90 per cent of the public think it is the responsibility of the police to tackle those causing antisocial behaviour.听I agree.听Cutting crime means cutting antisocial behaviour, too.
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Let me make clear what we鈥檙e not saying.听We鈥檙e not saying that the police can fight crime alone.听We know how important successful local partnerships are to prevent crime and reduce re-offending.听I want to build on the best local partnerships, ensuring that they are action-oriented, not weighed down by process or meetings.听听I want to make Community Safety Partnerships more effective and more accountable.

No crude targets

Nor are we implying that we want to re-introduce crude targets.听In fact, the reverse.听I believe that central government has interfered with the policing mission for too long.听The service has had to respond to endless targets, strategic policing priorities and action plans on specific crimes, on offences brought to justice, on standards of service, on public confidence.
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Excessive central direction has skewed priorities, interfering with professional and local discretion.听It has forced officers and staff to focus on what government wants rather than what the public want.听Focusing on cutting crime means turning away from bureaucracy and returning to common sense policing.听We want the police to be crime fighters, not form writers.听So do the public.听And so, I am sure, do officers.
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Clearly, cutting crime means preventing crime.听That鈥檚 why effective early intervention is vital.听It鈥檚 why the radical reforms which we are driving to the criminal justice system are so important, so that we drive down re-offending.听I鈥檝e seen some really encouraging examples of police officers working with the probation service to focus on prolific offenders and prevent them from returning to a life of crime.听That鈥檚 anything but a departure from the core mission of policing.听Half of all crime is committed by people who have already offended.听Preventing re-offending cuts crime.

Heroic officers

Of course the police carry out a wider role in protecting their communities.听No-one who attended the Police Bravery Awards and met the relatives of officers who have lost their lives, or went to the National Police Memorial Day Service in Belfast, as I did, could fail to understand that.听The heroic actions of officers like PC Bill Barker highlighted the bravery, dedication and sacrifice of officers in keeping the public safe.
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Every day, whether it is through support at road traffic accidents, seeking missing children, or helping ensure major events and protests are safe, police forces carry out important activities to protect communities.听The police will always have a duty to keep the peace, protect people from harm, and make sure events do not become emergency situations.
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This doesn鈥檛 run counter to a primary mission to cut crime.听It reinforces it - building the public鈥檚 trust and confidence and showing that officers are visible and available, on their side and keeping them safe.听Polling shows that 91 per cent of the public want a more visible police force, patrolling their local area.听 It is a grave mistake to underestimate the importance of this demand.听As Sir Paul Stephenson recently said, we need to give 鈥減eople confidence we are there supporting them 鈥� through visible police patrol鈥�.听That鈥檚 why neighbourhood policing is so important.听It provides a bedrock for all levels of policing.

Next week, the Government will announce a challenging set of reductions in public spending as we take the action necessary to address the deficit.听The police will have to play their part.听But we are determined to do what we can to strip out bureaucracy and unnecessary cost, driving efficiencies within and between forces.听The frontline must be the last place to look for savings, not the first.

Policing pledge scrapped

That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e scrapped the Policing Pledge and the confidence target.听That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e determined to reduce the burden of central doctrine and guidance that imposes compliance costs and takes manpower away from the frontline.
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We want to give officers more space to make decisions,听reducing the need for interference and restoring professional discretion - for instance, by giving back charging decisions to the police for more routine cases.听In exchange, the public must be able to hold forces to account.听That鈥檚 why direct local accountability and greater transparency are so important.听 From 2012 it will be elected Police and Crime Commissioners who set local strategic priorities, in consultation with the chief constables they appoint.听At the national level we鈥檙e creating the National Crime Agency to focus on serious crimes that cross force borders.听That, too, will have a clear focus on cutting crime.
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If the impression is given, even if inadvertently, that fighting crime is not the most important part of a police force鈥檚 job, or if the value of visible policing in the streets is demeaned, the public lose faith.听The first duty of any government is to ensure public safety.听Crime is the principal risk to that safety, which is why we must cut crime.听I know from speaking to police officers why they joined the service and devote their life to the communities they serve - to cut crime.听I know from the public that鈥檚 what they expect the police to do - cut crime.听And as one former Chief Constable said to me, 鈥渋f it鈥檚 not the police鈥檚 job to cut crime, whose is it?鈥濃��