Part of the way we would achieve the emphasis on crime prevention is to create a new government ministry/department of crime prevention. New Labour has belatedly seen the problems of the old structure but has gone for different reassembling which mirrors our call for a ministry of justice, but not for crime prevention. This is sad because it is the latter that would be more effective in reducing crime and the fear of crime.
What is important therefore about our policies is that we would actually re-orientate policing away from solely being about justice and order, the status quo, towards preventing crime in the first place. This would have enormous knock-on benefits for the police culturally. It is vital that police recognise that the citizens they police are the citizens they serve, and this will ultimately only be achieved by a cultural shift.
The Green Party shares the traditional principles of what policing should be - stopping crime happening in the first place, being accountable to local people, having good relations with the public. We have the relevant policies to achieve it - focus on crime prevention, not just detection; and, above all, recognition that the police and the public are not two opposing sides in conflict.
Matt Follett is Policy Co-ordinator (which he shares with Brian Heatley) on GPEx. He is also a university lecturer in criminology and Leader of the Green Party on Leicester City Council.
