Policing built for the streets cannot keep up with crime online, and the system is creaking because of it

As a practicing criminal defence solicitor of over 20 years, I have seen the way crime is committed evolve drastically over the past two decades. It is clear to anyone with experience of the system that policing has not caught-up.

One of the biggest challenges is in how the internet proliferates offending. The growth of social media and the rise in digital literacy now means that criminals can extort or abuse a victim anywhere on the planet - doing so from the comfort of their own home.

These cases are usually very challenging, requiring a great deal of technical expertise, resources and manpower to detect, investigate and prosecute.

In my practice, I have been exposed to highly sophisticated gangs who operate extensive networks that deal in the sexual abuse of children, or in the trade of vile child sexual abuse material. I have also seen countless cases where negligent, vulnerable or otherwise naive people have been drawn into criminality through their internet use - often becoming the victims of criminals themselves.

Crimes like these have risen manifold, and it is my view that levels of offending online now far outstrip the number of other crimes being committed.

With this in mind, it is clear that reforms to policing are woefully overdue. The existing police force system in England and Wales, which was created at a time when our communities were smaller and most crime was significantly less sophisticated, is designed for foot patrols and neighborhood policing.

It was certainly not designed to deter and detect offending online - or investigate complex crimes that usually start their lives well beyond their local area.

Presently, an investigation into an offence like possession of indecent images of children will often begin with a tip-off from a social media platform to law enforcement in the United States, which will then pass through Interpol to the National Crime Agency, and eventually a local police force.

This process can take months or even years from when an alleged crime is first detected - hundreds of man hours, and too many opportunities for mistakes.

In my view, the solution we need is a central model: a single police force, with regional departments. This would cut costs in recruitment and procurement, standardise practices, and help ministers hold chiefs to account. Importantly, it would also reconcile the tradition of local policing with the shifting realities of offending, and aid the detection and investigation of complex and multiregional crime.

The Home Secretary’s proposals, as far as we know them before her official White Paper is produced, are therefore a step in the right direction.

But she should be aware that she will face serious opposition. These reforms will naturally lead to change for those at the top - career officers, who may have spent decades in their force and may now see their roles shifted or made redundant. Like most large organisations, the police are fanatically averse to reform, and benefit from powerful lobbies that protect what they perceive to be their institutional interests.

The Government’s instincts on the need for reform and ideas are sound - but they will need time, money and perseverance if they want to achieve them.

Marcus Johnstone is a criminal defence solicitor of over 20 years, and the managing director of PCD Solicitors, a nationwide criminal defence firm specialising in sexual offences.