The slaughter inCumbria showed that it’s impossible for the police to anticipate and preventevery violent incident. Politicians havewisely resisted the temptation to demand fresh legislation, but an AssistantInspector of Constabulary said that things might have moved faster if policeforces were merged. I don’t know why hesaid it, and in the Queen’s Speech Debate this week I urged Ministers to treatthat favourite Whitehall recipe with deep suspicion.
The larger thepolice force, the more remote its leaders are from the communities that theypolice. Of course there is tension between the organisation needed to deal withmajor incidents and how you police local communities, but the answer is goodmanagement and co-operation rather than structural change.
We had a goodexample in Cardiff on Saturday. The so-called “English Defence League” came toSouth Wales on a day when the South Africans were playing Wales at rugby, theWest Indians were in town for a cricket match and the Stereophonics wereperforming in concert. Hundreds of police were on standby and in the House ofCommons I commended the forces which sent officers to help the South WalesPolice maintain order. And I also commended the good sense and good humour withwhich South Wales Police managed the day.
In the end, acouple of dozen English Defence League members came and went, while 1,000people of all colours and religions marched under the banner of Unite AgainstFascism in a quiet, peaceful demonstration that had real authority and truly reflectedCardiff's nature as a multiracial city that is determined to maintain harmonyand mutual respect.
I also urged newMinisters to apply the lessons of our successful violence reduction project.And I urged them to read the report on justice reinvestment that we publishedon the Justice Select Committee recently. I quoted Victim Support who told ourCommittee in evidence that, other than not to have been victims in the firstplace, victims want to know that they will not become victims again in future. Too much focus on agency priorities blurs theclarity of purpose of cutting crime to which all parts of the criminal justicesystem ought to contribute. I shall continue to campaign to make that thesingle clear measure of success for all concerned.