Police chief lets rip at lazy parents

Attempts to slash red tape within Staffordshire Police have resulted in the equivalent of an extra 15 police officers being available on the streets according to the county's top officer.

Chief Constable Chris Sims attended a public meeting held in Norton Canes, Cannock, where he also called for action against "lazy parents" who were allowing their children to roam the streets at night. Revealing the success of his continuing drive to free up police time Mr Simms said that the force was piloting a series of measures to streamline paperwork.

Mr Sims, appointed to the post of Chief Constable in September, said: "Cutting red tape has been a major part of my first few months with Staffordshire Police. There is stacks and stacks of work going on with this and there is still lots to do."

He said plans being looked at included giving officers handheld computers.

Addressing the annual Norton Canes Parish Assembly Mr Sims also said: "There is a huge issue with parental responsibility. When you are finding 12-13-year-olds on the streets at 11pm on a school night we ought to be stigmatising parents for not knowing where their children are.

"A big problem is lazy parents who don't put enough effort into bringing up their kids."

"Staffordshire police is a really good performing force but when you compare people's perception of what we are doing with the league tables there is a huge gap.

"I don't think we've done enough to make people feel they are getting the benefit from what we are doing.

"I want Staffordshire Police to be the best force in the country and I think being the best means having a really strong relationship with the people we serve and if that is not in line with targets set 200 miles away in London, then I am pretty relaxed about that."