I am keenly aware of the explosion of Police activity which we are all experiencing.  At 130,000, we now have a larger civil Police force than at any time in our history.  For the Left, and for the civil rights community, this poses a unique political and intellectual challenge. 

Yet I have seen no serious attempt, by the Left, to do so.  Let me make my own attempt, just to see what you think.  Let me explain my own pre-judgments.  I am naturally pro-Police, by background and social convention.  However, I dissociated myself from David Blunkett's public climb-down in the face of professional Police opposition, in May last year (2002).   And I remain implacably opposed to the Police case for introducing ID cards.  I therefore confess to a classic middle class view of the Police: I call every policeman "Officer", and always assume that he is on my side.  And you can't get more middle class than that!  That is therefore the psycho-starting point for my analysis - I set out my arguments below, going back to first principles.  Let me know what you think, particularly if you are a socialist.

I   All societies need "policing" in the broadest sense.  There may be some ultra-simple social groupings that survive without disruptive conflict, containing within their own social institutions adequate means of resolving conflict.  But Western European societies long left such social conditions behind.  In particular, modern high-density urban life generates multiple frictions which demand many forms of conflict resolution, both of a "civil" and "criminal" nature.

II  The maintenance of civic order, "keeping the peace", constitutes a primary duty of all public authorities, of all organs of the State, and that extends both to the regulation of disruptive and destructive conduct within society, and countering external threats to the public peace.

III "The Police", and all those agencies performing a "Police" function in this sense, have a particular responsibility for keeping the peace and discharging other defensive functions within society, and enjoy special powers to enable them to do so, particularly powers of coercion and investigation.

IV  It is important that all such agencies should enjoy the broadest possible acceptance across all social sectors, and that their authority should be acknowledged and maximised; in a democratic society, this predicates a wide understanding of their functions within the population as a whole, and their maintenance at all times of a high degree of legitimacy in the eyes of the policed. In a democratic society, particular political attention must at all times be directed to the quality of the relationship between the Police and the policed.

V   Finally, it is essential that in the conduct of all Police functions proper  the civil and human rights should be respected of all those who by convention or circumstance, by accident or design, by residence or temporary stay, are subject to the jurisdiction of any police agency. The quality of policing is itself an indicator of the quality of life within any society, and everything possible should be does to maximise respect for police agencies. Those with relevant responsibilities should seek to ensure at all times -

• (a) that the Police are at all times adequately resourced, and that recruitment standards are high;
• (b) that Police functions are discharged with minimum coercion, intrusiveness, and inconvenience,
• (c) that public confidence is maintained in the evenhandedness and considerateness of Police procedures and their implementation, and
• (d) that throughout society there is proper appreciation of, and education about, the role of Police agencies in the maintenance of civic order.

My nose tell me that there are, within this framework, two "zones" of particular socialist interest. 

First: there is democratic legitimacy of police agencies.  I have in recent years become increasingly concerned at the decoupling of the Police and the other civic authorities within their own communities.  The Tories finally destroyed a local authority linkage which had been long decaying.  That trend is disruptive, and should be reversed, whatever the difficulties of confidentiality or communication.  I favour the development of three different categories and levels of policing in society, each of which would demand its own distinctive democratic legitimacy. 

Second: there is the renewed emphasis, following the Human Rights Act 1998, upon the enforcement of the human rights of the policed - this reflects a renewed sensitivity to the abuse of police power, in both major and minor ways. All executive "authorities" (both of the Right and the Left) are prone to ignore this phase of civilised life, particularly when there seem to be great threats to be contained - terrorism, corruption, drug-trafficking.  But as socialists we must find new ways of developing new sensitivities in this sector. That is a feature of my developing liberal socialist view of Labour Party policy.  That is what the new Socialist Civil Liberties Association is all about - check out SoCLA.

"Policies for Policing" rarely figure on the Labour agenda.  The subject is considered more of a Tory subject, in spite of the success of New Labour with the slogan Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime... I shall be trying to push the subject right up the socialist agenda.