Historically the three essential strands of policing in the UK have been education through engagement and education, prevention and enforcement. They remain so to this day. As a 24/7 emergency service however the one element of policing that has to be serviced is ‘response’ which inevitably means that with reducing numbers the time to carry out education/engagement functions becomes restricted. Less engagement with the community on the ‘softer’ side of policing leads to less community intelligence becoming available. By its very nature ‘response’ policing is generally reactive and demand led. Demand is increasing and therefore the opportunities for proactive targeted prevention patrols are decreased. With changes in legislation, and direction in relation to the use of enforcement powers what type of service are we heading towards. (Photo from unknown source on social media) Last post on this little series tomorrow.
