Greg Hands MP has praised the world-leading website www.police.uk, which provides data maps that show crime and anti-social behaviour at a street-by-street level. Everyone in Chelsea, Fulham and beyond can now see exactly what type of crime is happening and where – right down to the level of their street corner. Concerns about the crimes seen, or how issues are dealt with, can be raised directly with the police.
Publishing this data was a Conservative manifesto commitment. Under Labour, the police were immersed in Whitehall bureaucracy, with a recent report by the police inspectorate showing that only eleven per cent of police officers were visible and available to the public at any time. The Government is reforming the police, giving them back their professional discretion and getting them out of police stations and onto the street – in return for making them truly accountable to the people they serve.
A series of measures are being introduced as part of the plan to fight crime:
- · Slashing bureaucracy – steps already taken to save up to 800,000 hours of police time by scrapping the stop form and limiting stop-and-search reporting
- · Removing all targets and setting the police just one goal: to cut crime
- · Introducing directly-elected Police and Crime Commissioners to ensure that police forces respond to the needs of local communitie
- · Providing transparent information so local communities really know about crime in their area.
Commenting, Greg Hands said: “This website is further proof that Government is serious about cutting the level of crime and anti-social behaviour in our communities.
“By providing crime data in an open format that anyone can access – even from their mobile – we can all hold the police to account. We can ensure they deal with the issues that actually matter to us locally, not those decided by a Whitehall bureaucrat.”