Letters: ‘supercops’ won’t save us from rising crime

Crime stoppers

Sir: If the Tories’ reputation on crime lies in the hands of these innovative supercops, then it will be sadly doomed, no matter how enterprising they may be (‘Rise of the supercops’, 5 August). Whether we like to believe it or dismiss it as woolly liberalism, the police and courts have a limited impact upon crime. The reality is that crime is driven by powerful social and economic forces, not the effectiveness of the local constabulary. In a liberal democracy, leaving the police to deal with any complex social problem, particularly one as diverse and intractable as crime, is fraught with danger. The police do have an important role to play but so do many others. This was well understood by New Labour, whose ‘tough on the causes of crime’ approach succeeded in stripping the Conservative party of its law-and-order credentials.

The effective answer is to ensure all of our public agencies, from education to health and local government, work together.