Blunkett's new-style bobbies

A new breed of civilian wardens are to get unprecedented powers to fight crime, it was revealed today.

They will be authorised to use force to detain suspects and hand out onthespot fines for litter louts, dog fouling and drunks.

The police auxiliaries will wear uniforms and will be known as Community Support Officers. They could be on the streets by next year and are the most radical feature in Home Secretary David Blunkett's blueprint for police reform aimed at boosting the fight against crime. Insisting the measures do not amount to "policing on the cheap," he said the reforms signalled a "drive against the disintegration and fracturing of decent behaviour" in Britain.

The auxiliaries - up to 1,000 are planned for London - will go out on patrol and are designed to free police to deal with more serious offences.

They could get powers including the right to use "reasonable force" to detain a suspect until police arrive and will be able to issue fixed penalty notices, direct traffic and stop cars. It will be a criminal offence to obstruct or assault an officer. Mr Blunkett will also create a new police standards unit and give himself the power to intervene where a police force is "failing".

Other key reforms to be introduced in a Bill early in the New Year, will include moves to improve the quality of detective work.

There will also be an overhaul of police officers' pay and conditions, including bonuses for good work and an end to generous overtime payments for officers asked to work extra days at short notice. There is to be an accelerated promotion scheme for the " brightest and the best officers". Police are also being told to crack down on medical retirements and sickness levels which starve the frontline. In return, Mr Blunkett is promising police a record level of 130,000 officers, major cuts in paper work and enhanced roles for civilian support staff.

"Our task is clear, we want to prevent, detect, apprehend and convict the perpetrators of crime," said Mr Blunkett as he launched the White Paper Policing a New Century.

Although crime has been falling for a number of years, Mr Blunkett is deeply concerned about falling detection and conviction rates.

Scotland Yard has the worst record in the country-for catching criminals. Mr Blunkett is determined to sweep away traditional practices which limit the number of officers on the streets.

The Association of Chief Police Officers is expected to give a cautious welcome to many of the proposals.

One senior police source told the Standard: "He will be bringing forward some of the changes chief constables have been seeking to modernise the police service by introducing more flexibility on pay and allowances, raising the professionalism of policing and rewarding skilled officers."

How Blunkett will reform police
The acts Blunkett must follow