Home Office Minister Hazel Blears says the public will be far more likely to help the police fight crime if they had greater trust and confidence in their local officers.

Opposition parties support the aims of the plan but fear the police will become tied up with paperwork.

What do you think of the proposed reforms? Is knowing your local police officer's name and mobile number a good idea? Will it cause more paperwork? What has your experience been of your local police force?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:

SUGGEST A DEBATE This topic was suggested by John, Le Havre, France: The police should be more accountable to their communities, says the government. In which ways would you like to see that? Send us your suggestions for Have Your Say debates

What a novel idea, going back to village bobbies. After closing down local police stations over the last 10 years, how sensible to admit they got it wrong. I always thought the police were employed by the community for the protection of the community.
Dave, Bristol, England

I have no faith in the police now. We called them when a crackhead was threatening customers at the front of our shop. 30 minutes later they called back to ask if he was still here - what's the point?
Chris, Shropshire

Isn't this the way it used to be decades ago? I support this. But I get cynical when politicians suddenly come up with a 'new, modern' way of doing things that's already been tried and tested ages ago and would probably still be working if they hadn't got involved in the first place.
Hamish Brydone, Edinburgh, UK

It is important that police regain the trust of the public Tony, England

Predictability the proposal has prompted a wave of cynicism and negativity on this board. It is important that police regain the trust of the public, particularly in certain communities where there is a culture of resentment and suspicion. This measure is intended to facilitate that and I welcome it. As for the endless whinging about lack of police, my area now has record numbers on the streets - far more than in the so-called 'good old days'.
Tony, England

We can't have it both ways unless we are prepared to pay the realistic cost of an effective police force. By this I mean that police walking the beat are fine until they try to stop a criminal driving any kind of get away vehicle. And does anyone know any thief who is going to give themselves up because they spot two police walking rapidly (i.e. above 2 mph) towards them??? Just enough time to drop the evidence if you ask me.
Rob Lever, Oldham, England

I've just been told by a policeman that he would not be able to enter a school with me to identify a vandal because it would 'violate human rights'. What hope is there?
Elizabeth, Leeds

Fair cop!! We have a local police force that listens and respond to our concerns, my worry is how long we are going to keep them !!
Barney, Warrington

Surely, Blunkett's having a larf with his new police plan! Today's police are like today's politicians - self-serving opportunists who aim to keep their heads below the parapet sufficient to get to their handsome pensions as soon as possible and then a nice cushy job in Civvy Street. Lovely jubbly.
Stephen, Leeds UK

This campaign will make no difference Steve, Marlow, UK

Drug dealers are on our local streets right now for all to see. The police station is closed and the yobs rule the night. This campaign will make no difference.
Steve, Marlow, UK

As soon as Tony Martin was imprisoned, all law and order in this country fell apart. If I cannot defend myself against an intruder, there is no hope for any legal justice or enforcement whatsoever.
Tom Franklin, London, UK

This is a typical "glossy" policy. Take a national problem, combine it with a popular new technology and set a target on it. It solves nothing, but appears progressive and "cutting-edge". How about trying to solve the problem and forgetting satellite tracked, laser guided, radar activated mobile phone initiatives?
Matt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (ex. UK)

First name terms? Whatever happened to respect.
Paul Weaver, Twyford, Berks

More contact between police and the public can help ease the fear of crime in certain sections of the community, but it alienate others who feel they are being 'targeted' and 'labelled' as criminal. Also it's worth noting that increasing police numbers does nothing to reduce crime figures. In fact there is a direct correlation between increases in police numbers and rising crime figures!
Justin Champion, London

Local police? What local police? I haven't seen a copper walking the streets for years. Do they exist outside of speed traps?
Ashley, Essex

Typical politicians' "eye-catching" initiative. The police response in my area is excellent - why spend lots of money not improving what is already there? What is needed is a greater visibility on the streets, more bobbies around the place. The deterrent effect on yobs is significant - it won't stop major crime but it will make people think they can walk the streets without fear of having fireworks tossed at them.
Nigel, Redhill, UK

From what I have seen of the 'new' proposals, my local police and their neighbours at Durham are already doing this - except mobile phone numbers. What happened to a private life - do the police not deserve one after dealing with other people's problems all day while on duty?
Daniel, Sunderland

The current system has too many chiefs with ideas and desires of empire building and not enough actions Chris Parker, Buckingham

When I left the Met Police in the mid eighties, I thought things could not get worse, how wrong I was! Policing today does not work and more great 'strategies' and endless 'fact finding' trips to the US are not the answer. We have different problems to address, local issues, regional issues, national and international ones. We need a flexible response which is co-ordinated. The current system has too many chiefs with ideas and desires of empire building and not enough actions. The Government should also stop 'policising' the police, it is there to enforce the law, not do its dirty work.
Chris Parker, Buckingham

I am a policeman in London. I think the principle failing of the police is in responding quickly when people need us urgently. Knowing the name of your local community constable is no consolation when there is an intruder in your house and you can't get an answer on 999, or there is no vehicle available to respond. "Bobbies on the beat" is effective in heavily urban areas where they are in walking distance of incidents. Everywhere else an abundance of officers patrolling in cars is the best approach.
Neil, London

I just have visions of "Heartbeat" or the quintessential backwoods US sheriff (without the gun!). All very poetic and chummy, but in today's world of gangs, violent addicts and armed drug dealers, not exactly an appropriate response, is it?
Jenni, Cambridge

Do we really pay the people who come up with this nonsense? Phil, Derbyshire

Two weeks ago I saw a police sergeant and a WPC walking up my road. I was so stunned I went over and had a chat with them. They are the first "foot" police I have seen in the eight years I have lived at the house. I suppose it will be another eight before I see them again as I can't see this set of proposals making a blind bit of difference. Do we really pay the people who come up with this nonsense? I'm sick of targets, charters, spin and gloss. I want real policing where the culprits are made to pay for their wrongdoings and an end to this "can't touch me" culture which seems to pervades every high street at kicking out time on a Saturday night.
Phil, Derbyshire

Every copper will tell you the same thing - they want to be out on the streets preventing crime, instead of having to fill in reams of paperwork. My brother is in the force, and the first time he arrested a shoplifter, it took him almost 2 hours to make sure every piece of paperwork was written to a satisfactory standard. All that for only �10 worth of stolen goods. It's ridiculous. What do they want - good writers, or good coppers?
Lee, Hebburn, England

It's just another cheap gimmick from a Government that thinks the answer to the problem is to come up with a scheme like this and that we will all breathe a sigh of relief and think that the problem is solved. Do they really think we are that stupid ?
John, Cheam, UK

What a joke! To speak to the police we are connected to a call centre in Birmingham - no wonder there is no respect for police. The last time I spoke to a policeman in my home, I looked at his lapel and asked whether it should read social services instead of police. He had to agree with me.
Ron Evans, Wolverhampton, England

Monitoring all the targets means more paperwork Malcolm, England

I was a young PC when they introduced "panda" cars. They were necessary because the police were desperately short of men throughout the 1970's because of poor pay and conditions. When they improved, with the consequent increase in manpower, the government starting setting "targets" like response times to incidents. That kept officers in their cars so that they could meet the targets. Monitoring all the targets means more paperwork, keeping even the cars off the streets. Police officers join to do the job, they hate all the burdens imposed on them by politicians. Put the blame where it lies, with politicians and their civil servants. This is just one more headline grabbing initiative that will not help one tiny bit.
Malcolm, England

What a farce! More recycled garbage. I live 4 miles from Rochdale (further away from Manchester) and if I want to ring my local station a mile away - yes we do have one - I have to telephone the other side of Manchester, near to Old Trafford. What a shambles!
Alan, Rochdale

Don't blur the line between the Police and Social Services. The Police must be overtly ferocious in dealing with yob culture, using a combination of intelligence, surveillance and zero-tolerance arrests. That's the way to build public confidence. Let the friendly 'community support' bit be done by Social Services, offering help to parents with problem teenagers as an alternative to penalties.
Ed, Aberdeen, Scotland

As an ex-policeman I simply marvel at the stupidity of it all. The one good thing about leaving messages for the police is that they are recorded. Not on a mobile phone though. This will lead to even less accountability unless the messages are then passed to central control where further administrative records will have to be made. Allied to this that area policeman only work 8 hours per day who answers the other 16 hours and which phone messages take priority? Many of the problems the police face are due to a plethora of new laws, legislation and administrative procedures combined with a general lack of staff. When politicians finally acknowledge these facts then the service will start to improve. There is an old saying that the public get the police they deserve. If you think you deserve better write to your MP and tell him/her so. Believe you me, a copper on the end of a mobile phone is going to make no difference at all - except that somebody, probably you will have to pay for the phones and phone bills
Graham , Manchester

I think the last time I saw a policeman on the beat I was still at school, and that was almost 10 years ago. If they want to help communities they could give us back our police presence and actually do the job they're being paid for. Sitting in their car with a radar gun and a sandwich isn't exactly going to stop my house getting burgled or my friends attacked in the street is it?
Michelle, UK

Amazing! These over-paid, out-of-touch civil "servants" have wasted our time and money coming up with an idea that the police should do what they are supposed to do in the first place? What's next? A debate in Parliament that cars should drive on the roads? That the population should breathe air?
Chris J, London UK

The only time I ever see a police officer in the area I live in is when I see the one who lives opposite me go to work in the morning Simon, Oxford, England

The only time I ever see a police officer in the area I live in is when I see the one who lives opposite me go to work in the morning. You never see them on the beat anymore and only see them surrounding the local train station when football is on. It would be nice to have a police force that isn't a faceless big brother organisation.
Simon, Oxford, England

The wheel reinvented again. This government took away Home Beat Officers now they bring them back as something new. As for telephones only one winner and that is the mobile phone companies. How much more is the system expecting police officers to carry? The radio is good enough, it is the base system which is flawed.
M Walker, Amersham Bucks

This policy smells suspiciously like that previous honking dud - John Major's Citizen's Charter. The police are already locally accountable - members of the public, magistrates and local councillors sit on each police authority board. Perhaps the Government should give police authorities more power (and not overrule them when they make decisions they don't like!)?
Stephen, London

What do you expect from a bunch of lawyers? This is just another publicity stunt meant to look good in the run up to the election. What we want is less paperwork and interference from political busybodies and more police on the beat.
Ralph, Southend, UK

I'm 50 and I've never been on first name terms with my local bobby and don't see how it would help. On the few occasions I've needed to communicate with, or seek assistance from, the police I've managed fine.
John, Fleet, UK

Cut the paperwork, get more police back on the beat to deter criminals and stop anti-social, yobbish behaviour, make parents accountable for their offspring's misdemeanours as well as the police more accountable to the community and we may just feel a bit safer.
Christina, UK

I'd like to see the police accountable for the crimes that are unsolved and delays in responding. I don't think there's any point in burdening the police by giving out their mobile numbers, I think this will be overused and potentially abused. I have had very little to do with my local police force, but I have not needed them very often.
Jerry, Basingstoke, UK

More government ideas to tie up our police force. How about a program that makes MPs more responsive and accountable to the local communities they work for?
Ray, London, England

Local police what a laugh! After nine at night my local police come from a town 20 miles away!
Neil, East Grinstead, UK

More claptrap from this government. The police are supposed to enforce the law of the land as it is, not enforce the laws some petty local busybodies think the law is or should be. This will just divert police attention from real work.
John, UK

Will this mean a return to Bobbies on the Beat? If so, not before time. Policing should be about crime prevention as much as crime investigation. Street crime cannot be beaten by police officers driving around all day.
Dave Godfrey, Swindon

What, exactly, is new about this plan? If Labour hadn't buried the police with paperwork keeping them off the streets in the first place we would still have community policing. This is merely a welcome return to normal policing methods.
Tom, London

Never mind knowing the individual officers phone number, it would be a major improvement if I rang the station number and the first person I spoke to dealt with my report of vandalism being committed there and then - not the third.
Dave Williams, Prudhoe, UK

More ineffectual tinkering from a government lost in a fog. What we really want is our local police stations back. Has anyone noticed that Blair's babes (Blears, Hodge, Hewitt etc) seem completely incapable of putting forward sensible ideas?
Andy, Manchester, England