A Decent Place to Live

Robert Halfon: Robert Halfon: Returning Law & Order to Harlow Returning Law & Order to Harlow Roydon, Nazeing & Sheering Roydon, Nazeing & Sheering

Forward by Robert Halfon,

Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Harlow, Roydon, Nazeing & Sheering
As soon as New Labour came to power in 1997 they began to lose the battle on crime. They allowed police numbers to drop by 7,000. They did nothing as levels of crime and disorder raced upwards. Until 2001 they had no policies to tackle crime on Britains streets. In Harlow gangs of youths made places like Old Harlow High Street and The Stow no-go areas after dark. Blairs Labour Government has churned out dozens of new laws, hundreds of new initiatives and huge numbers of new rules, regulations, targets, and paperwork for the police. Yet violent crime is still rising, gun crime is still rising and detection rates are going down. Police Stations, like Roydon and Nazeing, have closed and the officers withdrawn. Harlow Police now have to cover extra areas like Loughton, Debden and Waltham Abbey. We still rarely see a police officer and when we dial 999 the service has too often been poor. What can I do to change this? If elected, I will campaign tirelessly for Harlow on what I set out in this booklet. I will lobby the Home Secretary. In the House of Commons I will table Early Day Motions, Private Members and Ten Minute Rule Bills, I will ask question after question of the Prime Minister, I will not let up until I achieve what we all want for Harlow and its villages to make them decent places to live.

Robert Halfon

A message from the Shadow Home Secretary

I have worked closely with Robert in producing this manifesto for Law & Order in Harlow and its surrounding villages. I have known Robert for many years and the people of Harlow will not have a better advocate than him on any issue, but I know that Law & Order will be at the very top of his agenda as soon as you, the people, elect him. I endorse and commend this manifesto to you.

Rt. Hon. David Davis MP

Chapter 1 Policing
Neighbourhood Policing The only way to defeat rising crime is to have police officers in our neighbourhoods on a long term basis, working with local people, the Council, youth leaders, schools, shopkeepers, businesses, and community and residents associations. Officers must be highly trained for this work, and be prepared to remain for the long term to gain intimate knowledge of the communities they police, building trust and lasting relationships. I want such officers held in high regard within the police as well as outside and rewarded for the sacrifices such dedication may mean. I will campaign for additional payments, presently spread across the whole force, to be concentrated on real Community Beat Officers. Rural Policing Closure of rural beat offices like Nazeing and Roydon has left our villages relying on officers attending from Harlow or Epping to locations in which they may be unfamiliar. I will campaign vigorously for these to be re-opened and the return of village constables. A Mobile Beat Office does not replace the valuable contribution resident officers made to their communities as well as to law enforcement.

Conservatives will bring back proper beat policing by proper police officers

A return of our Village Bobbies for Roydon & Nazeing

Robert Halfon with Harlows Police Chief

I will be a frequent visitor to Harlow Police and will back their every effort on behalf of Harlow and our villages

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Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) The Police Federation say PCSOs are not the way forward for policing. There are only 4,500 across the country. Harlow has five. They are poorly trained, poorly equipped and have too few powers to be an effective replacement for proper police. Labour say they are only there to help regular officers, yet they plan to increase their numbers to 25,000. The truth is that Labour will do away with our traditional bobbies altogether and replace them with policing on the cheap. PCSOs do not take an oath to the Crown so they can never be truly impartial, they are not subject to the same strict discipline laws as regular officers and could go on strike. They have no career structure, so have little incentive to remain for the long term. Government funding for PCSOs is to be reduced before disappearing in three years. That means their whole cost will fall on our Council Tax. I will oppose further funding for PCSOs. This should be spent on recruiting regular officers. Special Constabulary Specials are volunteers who help in all aspects of policing, as well as the high-visibility work PCSOs are supposed to do. They are well trained and have the same powers and equipment as regular officers. People from many walks of life bring valuable skills and experience to our police by volunteering at least 16 hours of their time a month. At present they receive no pay for this. Since New Labour came to power the number of Essex Specials has almost halved, from 631 to 371. Nationally, the figures are worse, we have lost 8,837 Specials around 2 million policing hours a year. Conservatives will help restore the number of Specials by paying them, in a similar way to the Territorial Army, for the hours they train and work, with a variable annual bounty for those contributing more than the minimum.

Labours PCSOs are replacing proper coppers

I oppose Council Tax rises to pay for PCSOs

Under Labour almost half our Specials have gone

Conservatives will restore numbers by paying them like the Territorial Army

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Who runs the Police? The police have consistently complained they are subjected to too much central control from this government, given too little control over spending their own money, set too many government targets and have too much form filling, bureaucracy and red tape, which keeps officers in police stations. They are subject to far too much political correctness. They must be allowed to get on with the job of fighting crime without constantly having to look over their shoulders to see whether they are offending this or that minority interest. Crime affects everyone and there must be no no go areas. To help with these issues and ensure senior officers are accountable locally, Conservatives will introduce elected, rather than selected, police authorities, and every community like Harlow will have an elected person or committee, to whom the local police commander will account for the type of policing and its effectiveness locally. This will not take away Chief Constables sole responsibility for operational issues, but it does mean that local commanders must set local priorities in consultation with local people to deliver the policing communities want.

Too much Labour red tape Too much Political Correctness Conservatives will make local police accountable to local people

Chapter 2: The Conveyer Belt to Crime

Cannabis and other drugs This government has made a mess of the law on so-called soft drugs, especially cannabis. Even if we ignored the inherent dangers of cannabis, legalisation would be impractical and unacceptable to the majority of people. I support research into medicinal cannabis and will welcome its introduction if this happens, but this will not be the herbal or resin forms presently used illegally for smoking.

I oppose legalising soft drugs

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Hard drugs must remain illegal or under strict medical control. I am not in favour of prescribing hard drugs. This failed in the past and would do nothing to stop the illegal street trade. Again, the practicalities are enormous. Instead, under Conservatives there will be an additional 25,000 places on drug rehabilitation programmes for young people who get into trouble, for whom the message will be get into rehab and get off drugs or go to prison. Early indications are that where such schemes exist, they have a dramatic effect in lowering crime. This will be paid out of the extra 18.6 billion in the first two years that a Conservative Government will put into the NHS but, as drug dependency and crime decrease, I will press for the savings to be used to expand the scheme until we have enough rehabilitation for everyone who wants to come off drugs. Young People getting off the Conveyor Belt to Crime Conservatives will build on the good proposals in The Children Act (2004) to ensure all agencies presently dealing with children and young people work together, pooling funding where necessary, to identify where help is needed to prevent children starting on the conveyor belt to crime. Ensuring they go to school, they are safe in and out of home, and intervening with positive action when things look like going wrong. Unfortunately, too many parents today feel powerless to do this alone, so I will support the introduction of mentoring for problem families and long-term rehabilitation for youngsters who cant reform on their own. Our children are the future of our communities and our nation. We owe it to them to help parents stop the decline of our civil society, set children standards they can live up to, make the right start in life and stick to it.

I oppose prescribing hard drugs I support 25,000 more rehab places

Expanding this to all who want to get off drugs

Working together to help our children

Helping parents too

Chapter 3: Anti Social Behaviour and Zero Tolerance

Anti-Social Behaviour Labour were slow to recognise anti-social behaviour was turning our homes into fortresses where ordinary people felt under siege from yobs, unruly children, abusive neighbours and street crime. Communities have collapsed because few people now see their neighbourhood as belonging to them. Some of our sick or elderly live in fear of going out. I back recent efforts to tackle this. Harlow Council, together with Harlow Police, is among the leaders nationally. But their resources are too few and their enforcement success displaces problems to elsewhere in the town. We need to ensure sufficient funding for worthwhile diversions to keep children off the streets. 180,000 Council Tax will be available if we can stop spending on PCSOs. Zero Tolerance 40,000 more police, Controlled Immigration Mayor Giuliani and Police Chief Bratton cleaned up New York by adopting Zero Tolerance to crime. They almost doubled New Yorks police and got them working with the City Council on what became known as the broken window policy. One broken window encourages breaking others, but if the first window is quickly repaired, it helps stop this. I want Zero Tolerance working in Harlow. Conservatives will do this by putting an extra 40,000 proper police on Britains streets, funded by savings from controlling immigration, reducing this to under half the current number. I want Harlow Police and Harlow Council to adopt agreements, sometimes called Service Level Agreements, which will clearly define what the people of Harlow expect of both of them in relation to crime and disorder, clearing fly tipping, removing abandoned cars, repairing public buildings and other amenities, cleaning up graffiti, repairing street lamps, and enforcing parking, dog fouling and litter laws. They will be held accountable against these agreements.

No more living in fear

Give children real alternatives to being on our streets at night

Zero Tolerance for Harlow with 926 more police officers in Essex

Agreements with the people of Harlow to deliver better Police & Council service

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Travellers Everyone is entitled to live their lives as they want, but there have to be limits on this freedom where lifestyle interferes with others. It is a fact that on too many occasions travellers impose an unfair burden on communities by camping on parkland, intimidating residents, damaging playing pitches, leaving commercial and human waste behind. Conservatives propose tough new laws to curb abuse of Human Rights law, stop abuse of planning rules, allow councils to seize caravans, encourage police and councils to make full use of existing powers and give local people a say in locating traveller sites. Harlow fulfils all its obligations in providing traveller sites and I will work to ensure other local authorities do the same, so there is no need for us to be the target for unlawful camping while travellers look for legal sites elsewhere.

Travellers & Gypsies must respect our town & villages

I will ensure Harlow does not suffer

Chapter 4: Your Part in a Neighbourly Society

Victim Support The Government has been slow to take up Conservative calls for our Criminal Justice system to focus on victims, rather than on offenders. Conservatives propose a new law to change the balance of proof in favour of people who defend their homes against burglars. People should not have to worry about being prosecuted if they have a go at a burglar, provided the amount of force used is not grossly out of proportion to the circumstances. Tony Blair said he supported this, but he hasnt. We also want greater help to protect witnesses identities if they give evidence, to make courts much more witness-friendly and the judicial system more efficient, so witnesses are not needlessly called back and forth to courts for trials which are postponed. Victim Support is a charity that does a huge amount of work for victims by visiting them at home and helping them at court. I will encourage the Home Office to provide greater funding for this essential part of our system of justice.

Conservatives will put victims before offenders

I will help Victim Support

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Neighbourhood Watch I believe volunteer organisations like Neighbourhood Watch are the backbone of local Law & Order. Without the consent and co-operation of the communities they police, our police can not do their job, so I will do all I can to strengthen and encourage Neighbourhood Watch, ensure they have proper facilities and communication, and are fully supported by an adequate police response to their needs. Speed Cameras We all have a duty to drive responsibly and with care for other road users, but Conservatives feel Labour is at war with motorists, who are an easy target for taxation. In 1997 John Prescott said he would provide an integrated transport system, but our roads have become a nightmare of potholes, cones, gridlocks, road humps and traffic calming. Along with this has come an ever-growing number of speed cameras, while police forces have cut back on traffic police. Motorists pay over 40,000,000,000 (40 billion) a year in tax, thats almost as much as the NHS spends each year. Only a fraction of that is returned in improved roads. Motorists deserve better. Road accidents kill over 3,000 people each year, a number that is increasing. In addition to the terrible human cost every loss brings, each death costs society about 1 million. Reducing this number by a third would put back 1 billion every year. I believe technology can play an important part in reducing death and injury on our roads. However, some research suggests speed cameras may even be making things worse. I believe every site has to be justified before we install a speed camera, and that every penny of the fines should go back into road safety for the area where the camera is installed not just more cameras.

I will support Neighbourhood Watch

Reducing road casualties is very important, but we must restrict speed cameras to where they are necessary

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Chapter 5: Crime in Harlow above national averages and rising *

Violent crimes per 1,000 population. Harlow Total for 2002/3 = 1,576 All Crime per 1,000 population Harlow Total for 2002/3 = 8,976

These Home Office charts show people in Harlow suffer above average crime and violence Only 1 in 3 reported crimes is solved. If your home is broken into there is only a 1 in 9 chance of the burglar being caught

*Harlow crime levels blue national levels orange recorded crime. (Home Office statistics)

Detection rates have not improved under Labour Detection rates: Essex Police 1998/99 29% 2003/4 28% Sample Detections 2003/4 Violence Burglary Robbery 69% 12% 21%

Conservatives will give Essex 926 extra Police to improve these figures

In 2003/4 there were 144,512 offences recorded in Essex. (Home Office statistics)

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Chapter 6: Crime Under Labour Going Up

Home Office Statistics 1997 Murder & Attempted Murder Threats to Kill Serious Wounding Other Assaults Sex Offences Robbery House Burglary Vehicle Crime Shoplifting Criminal Damage Drug Offences All CRIMES 1,391 9,340 12,531 315,645* 33,165 63,072 519,265 1,117,572 274,015 877,042 23,153 4,598,327 2004 1,737 22,232 19,358 878,890 52,070 101,195 402,333 889,171 301,796 1,025,572 141,060 5,934,580 Change UP 25% UP 138% UP 54% UP 178% UP 36% UP 60% Down 22% Down 20% Up 10% UP 17% UP 509% UP 29%

You cant trust Labour on crime. You cant believe a word they say any more

Crime was going down when they took office in 1997

Conservatives will restore pride in Britains police and I will make Harlow a Decent Place to Live

* Statistics for assaults available only from 2000

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What people think The British Crime Survey (BCS) samples only people over 16 years. It does not ask about Most people say crime is all crime, only those which ordinary people usually encounter. In 2004, two in three people getting worse under Labour (66%) thought crime nationally was worse and one in three (33%) said crime was A lot worse. When asked about crime where they lived, over half the people surveyed (52%) said local crime had got worse and one in every five (20%) said local crime had got A lot worse. The 2004 BCS found people recalled fewer actual crimes than police records suggest, but Police figures bear this out recent changes in the way crime is recorded has improved police procedure and we feel this is now a more reliable indicator than the BCS, apparently borne out by the perceived levels of crime shown above. The survey found 4 out of 10 victims (42%) were dissatisfied with the way police handled their cases. Most people think prisoners should serve their full sentence; no remission for good behaviour and extra time for bad. Labour thinks judges shouldnt send offenders to prison if prisons are crowded, and they want fines based on offenders income, not the seriousness of the crime. They are out of touch with what people think. Conservatives will build an additional 20,000 prison places by 2008 paid for by savings we have identified in Home Office administration.

Victims not satisfied with police

More prisons longer sentences

A better future with Conservatives:

School Discipline, Cleaner Hospitals, More Police, Lower Taxes, Controlled Immigration and we will be accountable to you for delivering these promises. Michael Howard, Leader of the Conservative Party My own difficulties in life have taught me compassion and dignity for those most in need. I am in politics to help the most vulnerable. Robert Halfon, Harlow Constituency Parliamentary Spokesman.
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