More Bobbies On The Beat Needed Putting more police officers on the beat should be at the forefront of efforts to restore public confidence, according to a blueprint for reform by a former Scotland Yard commissioner. Lord Stevens will unveil the Independent Police Commission report on Monday and set out a raft of recommendations to transform policing in England and Wales. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Lord Stevens, who introduced neighbourhood policing to the Metropolitan Police 10 years ago, said a community approach was needed. Police are "sadly deteriorated" in the public's eye, he said, and fewer crimes are being solved. The commission believes the Government should have a Local Policing Commitment, giving every neighbourhood a guaranteed level of policing. There should also be guaranteed response times, it says, and every crime should be investigated - or an explanation given as to why not. "This is the level of service that the public has a right to expect," Lord Stevens said, "but that has deteriorated in front of its eyes." Police are returning to a "discredited" style of policing, reacting to incidents rather than responding to the root causes of crime, he said. Among the 37 recommendations by Lord Stevens' commission are that the social purpose of the police should be enshrined in law, bringing "much-needed consensus" to what the public expect of the police. Lord Stevens, who was commissioned to carry out the report by the Labour party, said the current programme for reform was "confused" and "fragmented." He said: "With fewer crimes being solved, a return to merely reactive policing that the public do not favour, Plebgate, Hillsborough and the identity crisis of Police and Crime Commissioners, it is no secret that policing in England and Wales faces challenges. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the findings of the Stevens commission would be consulted on as Labour draws up its manifesto for 2015.