Clarke could make crime worse, says senior policeman

CHANGES to the police service set in motion by Kenneth Clarke, the Home Secretary, will not solve Britain's serious crime problems and could make them worse, one of the country's senior police officers warns today.

In one of the most outspoken attacks on government police policy, Sir Roger Birch, Chief Constable of Sussex, will suggest Mr Clarke is out of touch - and that perhaps 'bureaucracy and lack of direct professional knowledge of the police service' in the Home Office might be to blame for a breakdown in communication.

The past decade had seen a 'plethora of ill-informed comment' on the shortcomings of the police. 'Much of this has reflected directly or indirectly the embarrassment of a government who at a time of moral decline took the risk of describing itself as 'the party of law and order'.'

In an address at a seminar in Brighton today, on 'Shaping the Future of Local Policing to Criminality', he will suggest that criminality is a complex social problem 'well outside the compass or control of the police'. 'If anything good can come out of the tragic events of recent weeks, with the appalling murder of James Bulger foremost in our minds, perhaps it might be that these happenings will bring this fact into focus among the politicians of all parties, the opinion-formers and the commentators.

'Not only will hasty police reorganisation or reform do nothing to solve the crime problem, but in the mid and long-term it could well worsen the situation.'

The police service faces radical restructuring, with Mr Clarke currently studying proposals which could include reducing by half the 43 forces in England and Wales; replacing locally elected members of police authorities with nominees; and centralising funding.

Sir Roger, who is due to retire this year, says: 'There would be the ever-present danger that the government of the day could direct funds to areas where votes were most needed, which may not necessarily coincide with the greatest needs of the community in terms of law and order.'

An inquiry, headed by the industrialist Sir Patrick Sheehy, is due to report in May on changes to the rank and pay structure. According to Sir Roger: 'It is tempting for the hard-pressed politician, or for that matter the highly successful business entrepreneur who knows little about the role of the police, to attempt to measure police success or otherwise purely on the basis of crime detected.'

His message to those tempted to recommend change within the police service solely on the grounds of the current crime situation is 'that whatever model they may choose, it will make little or no difference to the current criminality in this country'.

He has emphasised that he is not against change but the tradition of policing by consent relies on the ties between the police and the local community.

This could be damaged by the removal of local accountability through elected members and funding, poor police morale following the imposition of less favourable conditions of service, such as short-term contracts for junior ranks, and the privatisation of some of their roles.