Some police stations are closed

Some police stations are not open 24 hours a day. I am losing a lot of confidence in the policing in the UK. There is also the problem of not tackling what the police call minor crime. But the minor crime like robbery, burglary and violence are what the general public want tackled. They should be punished severely once caught rather than let off lightly (it appears unlikely because of the lack of space in prisons).

I like the idea of having mini police stations (they used to be called police boxes but I mean something bigger) all around the local communities which are open 24 hours. The police will be much more familiar to the community and they should be able to get to the crime scene quicker. This is what it is like in Japan. I think this is a vital way to create safer communities. At the moment, I feel the police and the community are too distant.

There does seem to be steps being made towards such an idea. I take my daughter out at night to get her to sleep. I bumped into two policemen walking along my street. I have lived here for more than 20 years and this is the first time I have seen any policemen walking along my street. I quickly searched online and I found a mobile phone number to get in touch with them. But Japan I feel is one step ahead because the mini police stations or Kouban (housing maybe 3), are interacting more with the community.

You may question if such a scheme is feasible? I think it is possible if the police are spread out more than now.

Another point is whether the police have enough time to patrol the community when they appear to be lumbered with a lot of paper work? I am in favour of police having less paper work and instead patrolling more of the streets.