Police officers were once seen as reassuring figures, like the fatherly Dixon of Dock Green.

Now it seems they are more likely to have a quite different effect - so much so that officers have been told not to talk about crime in case they frighten the public.

Home Office officials say discussing crime rates may make it less likely that the public will think officers are doing a good job. And that will make it harder for forces to hit the Government's target for increasing public confidence in the police.
Dixon of Dock Green,


Fatherly: Police officers were once seen as reassuring characters like TV copper Dixon of Dock Green, played by Jack Warner

As a result, they are told to keep quiet at community meetings. Last night, officers dismissed the instruction as 'ridiculous'.

The Home Office research report says that when officers highlight crime and anti-social behaviour problems at community meetings it can lead to ' feelings of fear' among the public.

Public confidence in the police - currently standing at 49 per cent - needs to be boosted to 60 per cent by 2012 to meet a Home Office target.

But the study says that to achieve this target police officers need to 'avoid four main pitfalls'. The first is highlighting crime and anti-social behaviour 'too much'.

The report says: 'Dialogue centred on the apparent pervasiveness of crime and insecurity may actually stimulate feelings of threat or fear, and in turn lower opinions of the police. There is also evidence that if people feel increasingly insecure they are likely to blame the police.'

Pitfall two is 'talking down' the police service. The report says police officers were the most likely of all public servants to 'talk negatively' about their job to the public.

Pitfall three is treating community policing as a 'waste of time' and pitfall four is not ensuring diversity in community meetings, which the study says are mainly attended by 'older, white, middle-class citizens'.

Detective Constable Alex Challenor, of Lancashire Constabulary, said: 'I can understand us being told to be careful about what we put on Facebook and things like that, but trying to control what we say to people in the pub is ridiculous.'

The editor of Police Review, Chris Herbert, said: 'It is hard to know whether it is depressing or funny.'

Last night a Home Office spokesman said: 'It is a core duty of the police to discuss crime with their local communities and there is no suggestion that the Government is telling them they should not.

'This research is a tool, not an order, and shows that there is a balance to be found in how police communicate with their communities to build public confidence and tackle crime.'


Source: Mail Online.co.uk, Jan 08 2010
By : Daily Mail Reporter