Four Ways to Help the Police
| Published date | 01 July 1983 |
| Date | 01 July 1983 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8305600302 |
| Author | Ranulph Bacon |
| Subject Matter | Article |
SIR
RANULPH
BACON, K.P.M.
FOUR
WAYS
TO HELP THE
POLICE
Throughout the last generation successive Governments have
introduced measures designed to lighten what were considered to be
some of
our
more restrictive laws controlling certain activities in
which Her Majesty's subjects hitherto had been forbidden to engage
-homosexual practices, off-eourse betting on horse- and dog-
racing, the playing of games of chance in clubs, nudism in public
places, and suicide - together with foreseeable by-products such as
call-girls, escort services and massage parlours, in replacement of
street prostitution and brothels, and the easing oflicensing for music
and dancing.
Although only a limited proportion of the population had any
special wish to take advantage of this increased liberality, it had a
profound effect on the nation as a whole, being swiftly dubbed "the
permissive society" and giving the impression. especially among
adolescents, that the new relaxed attitude was a thumbs-up signal to
"do
one's own thing" (as already practised in some schools) regardless
of whether that thing interfered with the comfort and well-being of
others. A level of selfishness has been bred, bolstered by the ability of
many teenagers to earn enough to claim independence from parental
family influence.
The loosening of the laws, particularly those related to vice, was
also claimed to be aimed at lifting some of the burden of enforcement
from a hard-pressed Police Service but due to the intervention of
other problems this has not happened. The chief cause is the steep
rise in crime, which dates roughly from the phasing out of National
Service at the start of the generation I have referred to and has now
reached almost phenomenal heights. Drugs and their misuse is
another, leading to criminal and unpredictable behaviour. Drug
addiction in this country before the last war was extremely limited.
Just two detective officers attached to the Central Criminal Officeat
New Scotland Yard were designated the
"Drug
Squad" even though
international traffic in drugs short of these shores was one of the
principal reasons for the formation of Interpol. Now every force has
its drug squad and its hands are full.
Public involvement
So the much heralded "return to the beat" has had too little impact so
far. The police have been foremost in asserting that they will not be
able to operate with full efficiency without the support of the public
- one of the main tenets of "community policing". That does not
July 1983 213
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