Thousands of officers will return to beat

Thousands of police officers are to be put back on the beat to meet new Home Office targets aimed at reducing the fear of crime and increasing public satisfaction with law enforcers.

For the first time, chief constables will be judged on whether the public are fearful of going out after dark and whether they feel safe when leaving their neighbourhoods.

The targets are expected to come into force in April next year. They will almost certainly force police chiefs to deploy thousands of beat bobbies and concentrate on tackling anti-social behaviour. The 13 performance targets reflect a radical shift in policing as growing numbers of chief constables are choosing to put officers back on patrol.

The Metropolitan Police has said it has got its strategy "wrong" for the past decade and has pledged to put 6,500 officers back on the beat by 2006. Other forces, such as South Yorkshire, have decided to do the same.

The proposed targets will include, for the first time, the "percentage of people who feel fairly or very safe after dark" and the "percentage of residents who feel safe or very safe while away from their neighbourhood".

There will also be targets for domestic violence incidents, the supply of class A drugs, reduction in robberies, burglaries and vehicle crime. Many of the changes follow the neighbourhood policing model set up in Merseyside two years ago, described as "Dixon of Dock Green with teeth".

Under the system, the force area has been divided into 49 "neighbourhoods", which are run by an inspector, three sergeants and from 20 to 25 constables. Each unit is responsible for tackling crime issues in its area.

Commenting on the new "fear of crime" targets, Norman Bettison, the chief constable of Merseyside Police, told The Independent: "It acknowledges that chief constables can no longer consider they are doing a good job if they are just delivering good results on burglary, vehicle crime and robbery. For the last three or four years that's been the central focus for the Government."

He added: "We have too often, in the last 10 years, tackled problems from the issue of 'how can we do this cheaply?' rather than 'how can we give the public more satisfaction?'"

He said he believed most people wanted to know their local police officers, and for the force to act on issues such as graffiti and vandalism as well as crimes such as car theft.

Chief Constable Bettison argued that the shift to community-based policing and the greater use of beat officers was "a crossroads that every force will have to come to".

A Home Office spokeswoman said of the targets: "We are looking at developing targets along these lines, but that is still work in progress. The good practice taking place in Merseyside is an example of how forces can reassure the public by providing more visible officers."

But the shift towards community policing is likely to cause controversy with some chief constables, who believe resources should be concentrated on tackling prolific offenders and tracking down suspects.