Pressure must be sustained (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Pressure must be sustained

3:58pm Wednesday 8th July 2009

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IT’S a common complaint that there don’t appear to be nearly enough police out on the streets catching criminals.

And people grumble that although they might respond rapidly to something like a bank raid officers react far too slowly to reports of more mundane thefts and burglaries.

In this context it’s good to see some high-profile action by the two divisions which cover East Lancashire in the past week.

In Burnley a “day of action” was aimed at putting criminals on the back foot while in Blackburn, Accrington and Darwen 30 known offenders have been confronted at home each day in the past week and others have been openly followed by police with video cameras.

Since statistics show that a comparatively small number of habitual offenders are responsible for a disproportionately large amount of crime this move to effectively deter them by intimidation is welcome.

But the public will also want to be assured that such activity will be part of a sustained effort and not just a ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ public relations gesture.

Some might argue that the phrase “day of action” begs the question: “What are they doing for the rest of the week?”

Police now need to prove the cynics wrong.

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