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Police officers in England and Wales would spend more time on the streets under sweeping reform plans to be outlined on Monday. <\/p>\n
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will pledge to cut “red tape” and “unnecessary admin” that she says prevents officers from leaving their stations.<\/p>\n
She will also promise faster response times for emergencies by setting a national standard for 999 calls.<\/p>\n
Mahmood said: “People are reporting crimes and then waiting hours or even days for a response.”<\/p>\n
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said “it’s hard to take Labour’s promises seriously when they have stripped more than 1,300 officers from the front line in our communities”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson said the government “must deliver” on its promises and “get more officers back onto our streets”.<\/p>\n
The reform plans would see police forces required to respond to emergencies in urban areas within 15 minutes, and within 20 minutes in rural areas.<\/p>\n
Most forces already have response targets, but the Home Office said there was currently no way of holding them accountable if they do not meet that standard.<\/p>\n
Failure to reach targets would see the home secretary sending in experts from high performing forces to help improve response times.<\/p>\n
John Hayward-Cripps, chief executive of Neighbourhood Watch, said the new targets would be a “welcome step forward” towards the “basic expectation that police will respond when you report a crime”. <\/p>\n