Why more and more of us are losing faith in the police

The public is losing faith in the police with only four out of ten saying they can be relied on to deal with minor crimes, according to a report yesterday.

Only 47 per cent of those questioned for the British Crime Survey felt police were 'there when they were needed'.

And only 41 per cent said they believed an officer could be depended upon to help if they were the victim of a less serious offence.

The survey, carried out by the Home Office and considered the most authoritative in the country, also found that only 51 per cent thought officers in their area did a good or excellent job.

Police and opposition MPs blame bureaucracy and Government targets for the findings.

They say officers are stuck behind their desks, rather than dealing with the crimes which worry the public.

The gloomy picture of the way the country's 140,000 officers are viewed comes after a string of examples of police being unwilling or able to help.

Earlier this month, it emerged that police are being ordered not to record criminal damage as a crime.

A leaked memo said rank-and-file officers in the Norfolk force have been told that incidents such as car vandalism should not be classed as an offence when there is 'no idea how it happened'.

In April it was revealed that a father-of-two

In Nottingham, who discovered axe-wielding burglars in his home had been told by police: 'We're too busy to help.' Within minutes, the burglars drove off with a haul of stolen property.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: 'The fact less than half of the public believe police will be there when they need them is a consequence of how Labour have tied up our police in so much red tape.

'Under Labour an officer spends less than 20 per cent of his or her time actually on the beat. Officers should be dealing with crime, not Whitehall diktats.'

Alan Gordon, vice-chairman of the rank-and-file Police Federation, blamed the low levels of public confidence shown in the survey on a Home Office target culture, which
for years has 'skewed policing activity away from what is important to the communities we serve'.

He added: 'We hope the recent change in attitude and the roll-out of community policing will allow officers to use their discretion, and interact with the public more, spending more time with victims of crime and actually attend the scenes of crimes which matter to the public.'

The survey also revealed that 40 per cent of the public had had some type of contact with the police in the previous 12 months.

One in ten was stopped in a vehicle, and three per cent on foot.

One in five was not satisfied with the way the police dealt with the matter.

More encouraging findings were that 83 per cent felt the police would treat them with respect if they had contact with them, while 62 per cent thought they would treat everyone fairly.

The survey came as police leaders warned that the public could soon see even fewer officers.

The Police Federation said experiments under way in forces across Britain is handing traditional police tasks to civilians under the banner of 'workforce modernisation'.

They claim it risks creating armies of specialist staff while thousands of sworn officers  -  capable of responding to unexpected emergencies  -  disappear.

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: 'Police officer numbers remain historically high  -  with an additional 14,000 police officers employed since 1997.

'Funding for the police is increasing this year to £9.2billion.

'Chief constables and police authorities decide how best to spend that money locally ensuring police staff are on the frontline.

'(Yesterday's) figures show that confidence in the police is steadily rising: more than half of people think the police are doing a good or excellent job.'

THE CRIME VICTIM LEFT FEELING LIKE A VICTIM

Police forces are spending nearly £40million a year on their PR operations.

Figures made public last night reveal that spending on spin doctors and marketing has risen by 13 per cent during the past two years.

The expenditure would fund an extra 1,400 bobbies on the beat or deliver the pay rise that the Government withheld from officers this year.

The figures were released in response to a freedom of information request from The Times.

They showed that forces in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, spent £30.2million on PR last year. Four forces refused to say how much had been spent but an estimate taking in all 52 constabularies would put national police PR expenditure at £39.4million.

The Metropolitan Police Service was responsible for the largest bill which came in at £6million. London Mayor Boris Johnson has vowed to redirect £3.1million of this to frontline policing.

In Cumbria, the communications budget has risen by 15 per cent since 2005.

In Dyfed Powys, spending rose by 77 per cent. The Police Service of Northern Ireland spent the most per head of population.

Matthew Elliot, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'Many police spin doctors are paid more than policemen and women and they never put their lives on the line.

'The excessive spending on PR is not only wrong, it's a waste of taxpayers' money.'