A new report from Ray Mallon, once famous for his zero-tolerance approach to policing, highlights failings in the system that have distorted priorities to the point where public confidence in the police is collapsing.

In the report (commissioned by the Centre for Social Justice) Mallon quotes one policeman as saying, ‘Prisons are full, detections are up, but go to any High Street in the country and ask anyone: do you feel safer? The answer is a resounding no. He adds, ‘Over the last ten years, policing has become far too complicated and needs to be made simple again. More and more, the police find their actions constrained by tight Government prescription, set down in complex action plans, performance indicators and targets.’

He suggests that anti-social behaviour plays a strong role in building public perception and cannot be allow to go unchallenged. Ray Mallon's research team carried out a national poll and found that 85% of people said that there are not enough police on the streets. Almost three quarters (72%) of people said that it is unacceptable for police officers on duty, not to intervene when they see a crime. and 76% said that the police don't deal with antisocial behaviour.

Despite Home Office figures showing a year-on- year decline in cime, two out of three people think it has gone up. Perceptions are what engender a fear of crime so it is important to make people feel safe and dealing with anti-social behaviour may help in this respect.

Ray Mallon who is now Mayor of Middlesbrough says, “During the course of this report, my team and I met so many officers who felt they were being forced to police the streets in a straight jacket, unable to use their discretion. They knew that without the ability to use discretion, when on patrol, they couldn't provide a proper service to the public"

“Discretion allows officers to judge when to make an arrest and when to use an informal approach. The public will judge the officer's intervention not by whether it achieves some government target but by whether it makes their street a better and safer place to live. While I want to see a police force committed to intervene against every crime, disorder or act of antisocial behaviour that doesn't mean they have to arrest every kid who causes trouble. I believe most of the public want the police to send a strong message about what is and isn't acceptable in their towns and streets. To break up the fight, to make the litter-bug pick up their mess - a voice of authority yet also a voice on the side of the law abiding in their community.”