Evenin' all.

Listening to the radio on the way back home yesterday, there was lots of talk about the young lad who's been shot and what should be done. Many people - politicians and ordinary people alike - called for more police on the streets "like it used to be". Now I'm all for more police on the streets, but the idea that this is the main difference between policing now and then does, I feel, miss the point. Back when I was young, it wasn't just a matter of visible police on the beat, it was that the local police really were local - they lived locally in police houses, and probably had done for most of their working lives. They knew all about their area, they knew the local rogues and villains - if anything happened locally, they immediately had a pretty good idea who was responsible or involved. If we can get back to that, then we may be able to get somewhere, but just putting more police on the streets, while better then nothing, isn't the same thing by a long chalk.