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UK: Blunkett rejects 'zero tolerance' policy on crime Ian Burrell The Independent Friday 25 Jan 2002 David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, will reject the "zero tolerance" approach to policing in a speech next week to the chief constables of England and Wales. The message is the latest example of Mr Blunkett rejecting the more right-wing ideas of his predecessor, Jack Straw. It comes as the Home Secretary publishes his Police Bill today, designed to overhaul the service by improving efficiency and introducing thousands of uniformed civilian patrollers. Mr Blunkett will tell police chiefs in London on Tuesday that he does not consider the zero-tolerance policy - which involves police officers "aggressively" pursuing those responsible even for the most minor offences - is appropriate to Britain. A Home Office source said: "The Home Secretary does not subscribe to the zero tolerance idea. The tag will never fit in Britain." Mr Straw was happy to use the term when he announced his Crime and Disorder Bill in 1997. He said: "It's about implementing a zero tolerance strategy. It's not a magic wand. There are no magic wands about dealing with human behaviour. The more I am able to make people feel safer, the better it is." Mr Blunkett's rejection of the term "zero tolerance" follows his decision to do away with Mr Straw's programme of issuing vouchers to asylum-seekers, and his reversal of his predecessor's refusal to liberalise the laws on cannabis. The Home Secretary is anxious that police chiefs do not get the wrong message from a visit to the same conference next week by the New York police chief Bill Bratton, who pioneered the "zero tolerance" approach. A second Home Office source said: "There's no way socially or politically we would go down the zero-tolerance route." She pointed out that Mr Blunkett approved of the way the Metropolitan Police was using different levels of approach to tackle drugs problems in different areas. Police officers do not arrest cannabis users in the Brixton area of south London and are considering extending the scheme to other districts in the capital. But at the same time a more hardline approach has been taken in the Soho area, which has experienced problems with crack cocaine users. Mr Blunkett has invited Mr Bratton to address the chief constables because he thinks the American crimefighter can inspire Britain's senior officers through the extraordinary changes he has achieved in New York. The Home Secretary is impressed by elements of the American approach, such as the value in crime reduction of improving the appearance of a local environment by mending broken windows and removing graffiti. But Mr Blunkett wants British police to achieve this by using a softer, community-led approach. He will unveil changes to the Government's Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, which are designed to curtail the activities of mainly young offenders who repeatedly commit low-level nuisance crimes. The orders result in offenders being banned from shopping centres or from neighbourhoods where they have caused problems. Offenders face a custodial sentence if they breach the orders, which are issued on the advice of both the police and the local authority. The Home Office is disappointed that only 466 such orders have been imposed across England and Wales since they were introduced in April 1999. The orders have been criticised as too complex and bureaucratic, and Mr Blunkett will make them "more streamlined" so that they are more regularly used.
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