Police chief rejects crime-cutting targets

David Blunkett's ambitious targets for reducing robbery and burglary "fly in the face of reality", a police chief said today.

Thames Valley Chief Constable Peter Neyroud is refusing to adopt the Home Secretary's goals.

He says they would distract his overstretched force and be unachievable without serious cuts in policing elsewhere.

Thames Valley Police has been struggling with a recruitment crisis and with the fight against terrorism. Mr Neyroud said: "If the targets are not set at a level which we think is realistic, we either ignore them or we make serious decisions such as taking resources out of road policing, child protection and relationships with schools."

The Home Office has set targets for burglary to be reduced by more than 11 per cent and robbery by a quarter by next year. Mr Neyroud, however, told The Independent this was unrealistic because incidents of burglary had already reached a historic low.

He said his force would only strive to reduce burglary by five per cent and robbery by 10 per cent. His defiance will cause fear in the Home Office that other forces will follow his lead.