Bobbies on beat better than statistics

So it is at best disappointing, at worst disturbing, to learn that as many as a fifth of crimes could be going unrecorded.

It is something many will have suspected for years. Statistics are constantly trotted out to reassure the public that we are safer now than we have ever been.

The reality, according to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is that it is just 'too much work' to process crimes.

Other cases have emerged of people being let off with cautions when they should have been hauled before the courts.

The police have faced enormous upheaval and pressure in recent years. Massive cuts to their budgets have resulted in long-serving and experienced officers being pensioned off while recruitment was put on hold.

Things are improving. In both the West Midlands and Staffordshire new officers are finally being taken on.

We know that the police, on the whole, perform an exceptional service.

They will do everything in their power to catch the vile individual who slashed Wolverhampton youth worker Gareth Howles across the face and stole his earphones while he was walking through the park.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, says the report on crime figures exposes 'unacceptable failings by the police' while the inspectors say they cannot rule out 'discreditable or unethical behaviour' on the part of officers.

These findings apply up and down the country and will require far more detailed work to get to the root of the problem.

There are examples of 'workload pressure' but also of officers who appeared to be trying to do the right thing by the victim, fearing that recording the crime would have a negative effect.

Each of these cases must be looked at in the detail that they were denied when they were disregarded in the first place.

But time and again there is one thing that trumps all the figures and statistics when it comes to making people feel safe and that is the sight of a bobby on the beat.

There is consensus across the political divide that police officers need to be freed as much as possible from the shackles of bureaucracy and red tape and put back on to the streets to do what they do best - catching the thugs and thieves who prey on the innocent.