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You and Yours: Call You and Yours: Should the police focus more on preventing crime?

Call You and Yours: Should the police focus more on preventing crime?

30/04/2013

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Call You and Yours: Should the police focus more on preventing crime?

As police forces face budget cuts, is preventing crime the best way forward?

Consumer phone-in with Julian Worricker. As police forces face budget cuts, is preventing crime the best way forward?

On Call You &Yours tomorrow - prevention is better than cure says the new chief inspector of constabulary for England and Wales. Tom Winsor has called for more focus on preventing crime.

As police forces face budget cuts and are being asked to do more with less, he says "If we can prevent offences taking place, we prevent there being any victims, which is absolutely critical, and also we save all of those costs."

And in a new report published today, the think-tank Policy Exchange recommends the introduction of modern versions of police boxes, where people could "report crime, provide witness statements, discuss concerns and access information".

The report also says that, faced with budget cuts, police chiefs must avoid putting "buildings before bobbies" and should replace local police stations with "cops in shops".

It's six months since the first Police Commissioners were appointed. Who are they, and what have they been doing? Are they value for money?

We want to hear from you....

Will the cuts to police budgets lead to a rise in crime? Would you like a cop-shop on your High Street? And would you ever think of going into it to try to prevent a crime? What's it like in your area? Has the bobby on the beat disappeared?

03700 100 400 is the number or you can e-mail via the Radio 4 website or text us on 84844.

Presenter: Julian Worricker
Producer: Maire Devine.

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