'Expert citizens' could be one way to make police forces more cost-effective as well as efficient. There's plenty of evidence about how this can be done
As we look towards next year’s election it seems inevitable that whoever leads the next government, cuts to the police service will continue. Although traditional crime has halved since its peak in 1995, the police face increasing and complex demands on their time, as reoffending rates stay stubbornly high and cybercrime becomes increasingly prevalent.
The police have already made significant savings through workforce reduction and sharing of back-office functions, but in order to meet the financial challenge of the next parliament, a completely new way of thinking is needed.
A new report published yesterday by the think tank Reform argues that to reduce demand on the police service, it is vital to move to a more preventative model of policing and develop the role of 'expert citizens' in crime prevention. The result of this will be reduced demand, enabling the police to meet their funding challenge not just immediately, but in the years to come.
The 'expert citizen' would first reduce the opportunity for crime by protecting their person and property. A particularly striking example of how crime has been 'designed out' is in vehicle theft, which dropped by 71 per cent from 2002-2013 as central locking, immobilisers, tracking devices and alarms became the norm. They would call 101 in an emergency to ease the pressure on the 999 emergency number, or even report crime online.
Online reporting methods have been shown to be much more cost-efficient while also improving confidence and reducing demand as problems are quickly identified and resolved. Lastly, expert citizens would be equipped with the understanding and confidence to tackle antisocial behaviour in their community, relieving the police of the burden of attending to numerous low-level incidents.
At the other end of the scale, the most vulnerable citizens impose multiple and complex demands across the system, including the health and social services, housing authorities, the benefits system and the police. It has been estimated that just 120,000 'troubled families' cost public services £9 billion a year.
Coordination between these agencies will not only provide a better service for the citizen but also reduce duplication of effort and enable vital information to be shared. The multi-agency approach adopted by Margate Task Force has enabled a 4 per cent reduction in recorded crime in an area of 12 per cent unemployment ands 20 per cent benefit dependency, amongst an unusually transient population.
As Home Secretary Theresa May wrote in Reform’s annual conference brochure this year, 'the best way to deliver a smaller state is to reduce demand for public services in the first place by addressing the root causes of social problems.' Reducing that demand must be the next policing priority in order to deliver safer communities in a time of austerity.
Katy Sawyer is a co-author of The expert citizen, published by the independent think tank Reform
