PHIL ROBINSON looks at how bobbies on the beat have returned to Ellesmere Port - before a Government White Paper suggested it.

CHESHIRE Constabulary is already successfully operating the kind of community policing tactics proposed in a Government plan, according to the county's chief constable.

Peter Fahy was responding to a Home Office White Paper which in many ways suggests turning back the clock 30 years to Dixon of Dock Green-style policing.

Home Secretary David Blunkett's idea is for more bobbies on the beat, each known by name and easily contactable by mobile phone.

The White Paper also proposes neighbourhood teams to address issues such as criminal damage, noise nuisance and yobbish behaviour.

But Mr Fahy pointed out his force is already rolling out this kind of community policing.

And he said Cheshire's Community Action Teams (CATs) provide officers who are highly visible and easily accessible.

The CAT officers, he added, were building the kind of close links with local people which result in long-term solutions to problems of crime and disorder, rather than adopting a 'sticking plaster' approach.

The latest example is the Catwalk project, which aims to enable residents to identify the number one policing priority for their area.

One suggestion in the White Paper is that people should be given mobile phone numbers for local officers.

Mr Fahy says his force is looking at how to improve the way the public can contact CAT officers, but wants to en-sure processes are in place to manage that workload.

It is planned that each CAT will have an answer-phone and e-mail, where people can leave messages about problems of crime and disorder.

While beat officers improve the relationship between the public and police, the force has found this significantly increases the number of calls residents want to make.

The move toward community policing will go much further next year with the reorganisation of Cheshire Constabulary into 18 neighbour-hood policing units, consisting of CATs and specialist investigation teams.

CATs will continue to deal with problems such as disorder, drinking and drug dealing by encouraging a flow of information from the public and by working with partner agencies.

'That is what the public tell us they want,' said Mr Fahy, 'but increasing the numbers of visible beat officers can only be achieved if we reduce the number of officers who respond to calls to incidents.

'We've carefully investigated the way we have responded to calls and it is clear that in many cases the so-called fast-response approach has not played any part in producing a better end result.

'In many cases alternative responses are more effective. For instance, a local beat officer or a crime scene investigator may be sent at a convenient time, or the caller may find it more convenient to fix an appointment at a police station helpdesk.

'For the future, our intention is that an emergency response will only be provided when it will make a real difference. The caller will be told clearly what is going to happen and whether an officer will attend immediately or not.'

Mr Fahy added: 'We are committed to moving to a new system of local neighbourhood policing and we are pleased that the Home Office has endorsed our plans.

'We believe using officers to work out among the community and to target and remove offenders is the right way to continue and extend the progress we are making in reducing crime and disorder.'