The challenge of policing in a modern society such as the UK should be easier than in earlier years through the advantage that advances in technology bring to preventing crime and disorder. Technology alone has not been able to keep police forces ahead of crime, even with good programmes such as Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) that build a stronger relationship between the police and the community.
The level of policing required to tackle crime and disorder can vary from country to country. In Germany, two thirds of people surveyed said that they would intervene to stop antisocial behaviour (ASB). This contrasts with only one third of people in the UK who said in a similar survey that they would intervene to stop ASB.
Dealing with antisocial behaviour in the UK and the public's reluctance to try to stop it is in part due to a strong aversion to being in harms way, but also to a reluctance to get involved bordering on apathy. This reluctance is in part due to the perception of effort required to report a problem to the police. People may think that they'll be on the phone for a long time and possibly could be getting on with something else. They think that their details will be taken and there will be further - undesired - involvement on their part. This is all just slightly too much when all they what to do is let the police know that there's something that they need to take a look into.
Unless there is a police officer close at hand then you have to make a telephone call to report something that you've noticed. If it's a very serious matter then people would not normally hesitate too much to make the call. However, if it's a group of people vandalising the childrens' play park then there will (unfortunately) be greater reluctance to report the matter. The likelihood of the matter being reported can be increased by making it easier to report it to the police.
By using an SMS texting service where the police can be contacted for non-emergency (i.e. not life threatening) matters, the police can become more accessible to the community. The technology can also be coupled with location information to show where the individual was at the time they reported the matter, and this taken with the content of the message, can add context and clarity to the report. For example, if the person reporting the matter was not clear enough about the location of the incident then the accompanying location information that such a SMS texting service could provide would add accuracy.
SMS is a widely used technology that is discrete, quick and easy to use. As a means for increasing communication through a less formal conduit with the police it can be an effective technology if properly embraced. A common non-emergency phone number across the UK that can be used for voice and text and help increase the adoption of the SMS texting service for reporting incidents to police. It should be mandatory that mobile network operators provide their subscribers with access to the service and that use of this service for reporting incidents to the police not be included on bills and be free of charge to the subscriber.
