Introduction

As a range of current policing strategies now demonstrate, the traditional law enforcement role of the police is in the process of being overtaken by initiatives based on a combination of intelligence-led policing and a commitment to the implementation of effective crime reduction programmes based on sharing information and intelligence throughout England and Wales. Currently, all police forces are now required to introduce and use the National Intelligence Model (NIM) as identified within the 2002 Police Reform Act. As its title suggests, the NIM requires the collection and more effective use of local (and other) sources of information that together form the basis of the work of police intelligence analysts. This, along with the analysis of offender patterns at various geographical levels on a regular basis, now provides a much more comprehensive picture of crime patterns and quality of life problems to which the police can respond.

The application of NIM has also coincided with the recognition that the police can expect to gain much from the ‘partnership’ approach that constitutes the central element of current community safety strategies developed out of the Morgan Report of 1991 and the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act (CDA). Indeed, post-Morgan, there has been a strong commitment, particularly at the police operational level, to supporting the successful implementation of community safety strategies by way of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) (Police Superintendents Association, 2004). The movement towards preventative policing is now also reflected in the adoption by the police of the ‘reassurance agenda’, designed to reduce levels of crime concern by targeting ‘signal crimes’ (incivilities and signs of disorder) that can generate feelings of insecurity and danger within local communities (Tilley, 2005). Most recently, the police service has made manifest its long-term commitment to community safety within the Neighbourhood Policing initiative, designed to address local crime and disorder priorities in conjunction with other local agencies (Tilley, 2005).

1998 Crime and Disorder Act

It was, arguably, the implementation of the CDA that proved to be the most significant driver in terms of reorienting policing strategies. By making the police and local authorities jointly responsible for crime reduction, the CDA provided formal recognition that the police as law enforcers could never, in the absence of support from local public services, be expected to significantly impact on crime and disorder.