How has the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 impacted upon partnership approaches in policing? Within your answer illustrate the role of 'community safety'

Essay by italiantoniUniversity, Bachelor'sC+, May 2004

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Introduction

The efficiency and effectiveness of the police force is always under constant scrutiny. The police service is required to carry out its role of protecting and serving the community, with minimum resources in the most productive and cost effective method possible. One way in which the police are able to deal with the ever increase in crime, is through the partnerships they have developed with other public and private bodies. These organisations aid the police in many different forms from providing support and advice, to physically helping to police society. Throughout this essay I plan to describe the effects the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 has placed upon partnership approaches in policing. I will also demonstrate the role of community safety by explaining the methods used to reduce crime and the fear of it.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Prior to the Crime and Disorder Act there was no legal act, which directly placed responsibility on organisations to become involved in crime reduction.

Partnership working, which lies at the heart of the Crime & Disorder Act, had previously been promoted in a 1984 landmark government circular, which declared that crime prevention should not be left to the police alone, since some factors affecting crime lay outside police control or direct influence.

Every individual citizen and all those agencies whose policies and practices can influence the extent of crime should make their contribution. Preventing crime is a task for the whole community. (Home Office)

The Morgan Report 1991 recognised a leadership role for local authorities alongside the police. It established that in order to combat crime there was a need for partnership relations between local communities and the police. The report contained 29 main recommendations, the most significant being:

"In the longer term local authorities, working in conjunction with the...