Merseyside police crime reduction: the man and methods

Bernard Hogan-Howe

According to The Daily Telegraph, the policies and style of Bernard Hogan-Howe, Merseyside's police boss, have achieved record levels of crime reduction in the last two years.

Mr Hogan-Howe's Merseyside police force has, for the second year running, reported the largest fall in crime, down 18 per cent after an 11 per cent drop last year. His no-nonsense approach appears to be working, making him a serious contender to replace Sir Ian Blair as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

Mr Hogan-Howe is the scourge of the liberal judges, the health and safety brigade, and an advocate of zero tolerance. He is scornful of the idea of merely cautioning people caught in possession of knives and guns. In Merseyside charges are brought irrespective of whether the knife has been used or not.

"Too many think if they are caught the knife will be taken off them and that will be it if they have not stabbed anyone. Wrong. We need a message sent out that cautions are not enough. It has to be tougher. People have to know if they are caught with a weapon there will be consequences. It is a serious offence."

In Merseyside in the past two years the police have seized 24,000 cars linked to drugs and crime, crushed 38 per cent of them, and sold the rest. Any tip-offs on drugs result in an application for a search warrant the same day whatever the hour. He said: "Then we put the door in. Every day Merseyside will put in five doors. It's amazing what you find: guns, drugs, cash."

Over the same period the police have seized more than £11 million in assets from criminals, the second highest total outside London. "If they have a criminal lifestyle and have £1,000 in cash or more we take it. It is for them to show they should not have to give it up."

Mr Hogan-Howe has set a target to cut anti-social behaviour by 20 per cent each year which is why 46 pubs and clubs have been closed in the city centre in two years. Teams of 50 officers have gone into "hot spot" estates for up to six weeks at a time with 2,700 arrests in 12 months.

Read the full article from The Daily Telegraph here