Bobbies On The Beat, They Can't Always Be In The Right Place At The Right Time
In a dramatic display of public misunderstanding, a MORI poll conducted for the National Neighbourhood Watch Association (NNWA) has found that 93% of the British public who expressed an opinion (1) overestimates the number of times that a police officer on foot patrol is actually likely to come across a crime in progress. In response to these figures the NNWA is challenging politicians and police chiefs to re-consider this wasteful use of police resources and concentrate instead on more focused crime prevention measures. They are also pointing out that vigilant neighbours are much more likely to be in the right place at the right time to prevent residential crime taking place.
The poll, released on the eve of the Norwich Union National Neighbourhood Watch Conference, found that 83% of those who expressed an opinion believe that a beat officer is likely to come across a crime in progress at least once a year, and 26% believe that a foot patrol officer spots a crime in progress at least once a week. This compares with Home Office figures, which suggest that a patrolling police officer could expect to pass within 100 yards of a burglary taking place roughly once every eight years (2). Even then they may not even realise that the crime is taking place.
When asked how often a police officer on foot patrol comes across a crime in progress 15% of those who expressed an opinion said at least once a day, 49% said at least once a month, 70% said at least once every 6 months and 83% said at least once a year. Only 7% said close to the actual figure of less than once every 7 years.
The NNWA has responded to these findings by calling upon the police and politicians to recognise that an over-emphasis on foot patrol is a wasteful use of limited police resources. John Howell, Director General of the NNWA said:
"We accept that uniformed police officers on foot patrol do provide a useful function in terms of re-assuring the public, communicating directly with them and deterring crime. But we need to recognise that in terms of catching criminals, police foot patrol is a very ineffective tactic. Of course we would like to see more police officers in every area, but in a world in which police resources are necessarily limited we need to make use of what we have as effectively as possible."
"No matter how many police officers we have on the beat they can rarely hope to be in the right place at the right time to prevent a crime from taking place. Vigilant neighbours, however, because there are so many of them, are much more likely to be in the right place at the right time to prevent residential crime taking place."
"This poll shows that - overall - the public's priority is to use the police for more focused crime prevention tactics, including teaching children about the dangers of drugs and targeting known groups of persistent offenders."
The MORI poll also found that whilst foot patrol was the single most popular choice for the use of police officers, a clear majority of the British public would rather see more officers engaged in focused crime prevention activities such as teaching children about the dangers of drugs and targeting persistent offenders. The poll found that 56% of the public would prefer the police to concentrate on crime prevention activities other than foot patrol against 40% who see beat police officers as a priority.
When asked to choose between policing priorities 40% of respondents chose foot patrol, 26% chose teaching children about the dangers of drugs, 23% chose targeting of known groups of persistent offenders, 4% chose keeping a street robbery hotspot under surveillance and 3% chose giving crime prevention advice to burglary victims.
The Norwich Union National Neighbourhood Watch Conference 2000 is taking place at the East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham on Saturday 28 October. Keynote speakers at the Conference include the Home Secretary, Jack Straw MP and the new president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Tony Burden QPM, Chief Constable of South Wales Police. Both have been supplied with a copy of the MORI poll "Policing Priorities - A Survey of British Adults" and will have the opportunity to respond to its findings. The Conference will be attended by 550 Neighbourhood Watch delegates from across the country and is taking place under the theme of "Building Better Communities - Together".
Technical details
The findings are the result of a survey carried out by MORI on behalf of the NNWA. The questions were placed on MORI's Omnibus and a nationally representative sample of 1,901 adults aged 15+ was interviewed face-to-face throughout Great Britain between 31 August and 6 September 2000. A copy of the topline results of the survey is attached to this press release.
- 31% of those asked did not have any idea how often a police officer came across a crime in progress
- Home Office Research Study 79 "Crime and Police Effectiveness" by Ronald Clarke and Mike Hough. This figure assumes a burglary rate of 10% and an average foot beat of a square half-mile comprising 1,500 households.
For further details of the survey, including a regional breakdown, or to interview John Howell contact Tim Morris, NNWA Press & PR Manager on 020-7662 3585 or mobile 07977-532 991.
