The Spectator

Letters | 4 June 2011

<em>Spectator</em> readers respond to recent articles

issue 04 June 2011

Spectator readers respond to recent articles

Target practice

Sir: It is simply wrong to say — as an anonymous officer claimed in your magazine (‘Target Men’, 28 May) — that every facet of the Metropolitan Police is now dominated or disfigured by targets or quotas. However, if we are to be truly accountable, there must be some performance measures. How else can we reassure the communities of London that they are getting value for money?

We aim to increase public satisfaction and confidence — and we conduct surveys to ensure we deliver on this commitment. Is that an unnecessary target? How else can we know if we are getting things right?

The people of London have a right to know how we are performing. All major police forces in the world are held accountable for cutting crime. If we scrapped crime figures, we’d be castigated for preventing the public from knowing how we are performing.

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