Gentle touch pays off

But if she is anything, Jane Stichbury CBE is most definitely a career copper - she joined the Metropolitan Police as a graduate in 1977 and worked on changing the force's creaking attitudes to domestic violence, and race and hate crime. And she's been climbing ever since, becoming, in 1999, only the third woman ever to head a British police force.

"When I first arrived, I can remember lots of questions about being a woman chief constable," she says. "It was something that seemed to cause comment."

Now, she hopes, people would rather comment on her force's record which, by most of the yardsticks it is measured by, is thriving under her care.

"I'd like to stress what my vision for the force always was. I was always keen that Dorset, although one of the smaller forces, should aspire to be in the top quarter of police forces in terms of performance and that's where we've been assessed as being, by the HMI (Her Majesty's Inspectorate) assessment."

She is keen to point out her force's "excellent" grading, in crime and disorder reduction partnerships, how it handles critical incidents, such as a missing child or a serious assault, meeting its targets, and in time-response to 999 calls - which went up by 17,000 last year.

However: "The big success has come in terms of our ability to reduce crime. Over the five years, vehicle crime has been reduced by 30 per cent. By March 2005 I need to deliver a target reducing burglary by 25 per cent, and we are currently on course to achieve that."

One reason for this may be the extra officers Dorset now employs. According to Mrs Stichbury, police numbers have risen from 1,290 officers in 1999, to 1,461 although, she admits, we have one of the "largest numbers of people per officer" - policespeak for fewer officers to go round.

Despite this, and largely thanks to her, the county still has one of the highest rates of officers in frontline posts - what the rest of us might refer to as bobbies on the beat, but what Mrs Stichbury describes as "visibility". "Community beat officers, the person you can recognise," she says.

"For many people, that still remains top of the list. One of the biggest things the public want to see, and say they want to see, is visibility, ie officers and staff on patrol. We've got one of the highest rates for officers in frontline posts and that's always been a complete commitment of mine. We've got a very good record in ensuring that a vast number of our officers are out there. Over the last two years, we've been increasing, year on year, our time spent in public."

So what would she say to all those people who still complain there's never a policeman around when you want one?

Two things, really. Firstly, that, because of the incidences of computer-oriented crime, fraud and child internet porn - which barely existed when she took over the job - some of the force's personnel are working away in the Hi-Tech Crime Unit, tackling these very issues. And other officers' presence will never be seen, although she hopes it will be felt, because they are working covertly to provide the kind of high-quality intelligence that helps crack cases.

"We do have fewer officers per population and, when you add to that the summer visitors, that can create an impression that we don't have as many," she said.

It may be a comfort to know that, unlike others in her position, she is not in thrall to the famous piece of "research" which more or less stated that bobbies on the beat were not an effective use of resources because, statistically, they only came across a crime being committed every 10 years.

"It was actually ridiculous and I think that was the wrong premise to look at it. My view has always been this, and it's particularly relevant when we're talking about creating orderly communities: If you set the right tone, then behaviour follows suit. So if you have a sense of order, and a sense of clean environment and a sense of standards, if those standards are then upheld, I believe that is beneficial for all."

One of the officers who can be found on the beat in Dorset, occasionally, is Mrs Stichbury herself, as she likes to accompany colleagues whenever she can. "I'd love to do it even more than I do. But you have to balance that with the other work. I had to visit two sections this morning, seeing staff. I think it's hugely important because it's your reality check; if you don't know what's happening on the ground, then that's not a good position to be in. As the chief constable, you need to know what the reality is."

This talk of chief constables and reality is my cue to raise the two questions that virtually everyone in Britain would like to ask their top cop. And they are: what do you think of speed cameras? And what are you doing to prevent a Soham here?

Her take on speed cameras is this: "In an ideal world you wouldn't need them because people wouldn't drive over the speed limit. If you don't speed, you don't get caught on camera."

She is well aware that this is a "difficult message" for some people to absorb. But, when she insists that for her, it isn't about money, I believe it. "It's certainly not about money because we don't keep the residue monies in the county; they go to the treasury. I think it would be better if we were able to reinvest the residual monies here.

"The real issue is to make the roads safer and prevent serious and fatal road accidents. Last year with, I think, a big increase in speed cameras, we actually reduced fatal and serious road accidents by 14.4 per cent. Our fatal child-accidents went down from two to none. Fortunately the number has never been large, but you just imagine one child fatality. If the cameras have saved one child, then it's very good news."

And very hard to argue with, when Mrs Stichbury describes the misery, both financial - estimated at around £1 million per road death - and emotional that result from a fatal accident.

"People are now driving more slowly and more sedately and that's good. I think quite a lot of flak has been directed at us, but I think we just have to live through that and to help people understand why it's important. It is, from my point of view, very much about reducing fatalities and serious accidents."

And so to Soham, and its own chief constable, David Westwood, turfed out of his post by the Home Secretary for the blunders made in the force's dealings with the murderer Ian Huntley. "Are you happy with how we deal with people like Ian Huntley; incidents being entered on computers, that sort of thing?" I ask her.

"One of the best attributes that any leader can have is to be permanently challenging around whatever we do, so it would be a foolish person who says they were entirely content; to me, that is not going to drive continual improvement," she says.

"We have quality assurance systems, we are constantly reviewing what we are doing. It's a very robust process but I don't doubt we'll be engaged in further reviews as a result of national issues."

What will her response be to the Bichard Report, which severely criticised Mr Westwood? "A lot of the recommendations concern national approaches. There is absolute commitment here to giving a first class, professional response, no matter what we're doing, but we're reviewing our processes to ensure that we're in a position to do that."

And the hapless Mr Westwood?

"I'm not going to answer any questions about that particular issue because it's sub judice," she smiles.

"What I'm happy to say is that since I've taken over as chief constable here, I've always felt a deep and profound sense of personal responsibility and accountability.

"I've tried to ensure that is meaningful, not only in my relationship with the police authority but also in terms of going out, and I have made it my business to go out and present talks and discussion with local people and listen to their concerns.

"The position of Chief Constable is one which has huge responsibilities and you are very, very accountable," she says.

Policing is, she says, is "about a service which is very, very customer and community focused, where there's a real relationship with local people, and a force that was really innovative in trying to do things differently.

"I've always felt that is the secret to success; you cannot stand still, you have to move on, you have to change and adapt and be prepared to try things that are different. You're not always going to succeed if you do that but it's far better to try and perhaps fail, sometimes, than to never look to change or do things differently.

"Nationally it's said there's a declining confidence in the police, but we're not seeing this in Dorset.

"Furthermore, we have a user-satisfaction survey telling us that when people have had reason to depend on Dorset police, their satisfaction levels are rising. For the future, driving public confidence and engaging with communities will be at the heart of what we're trying to do."

She accompanies me to the front door of the Police Headquarters at Winfrith. As I struggle to unclip my visitor's badge, she asks; "Shall I do it for you?" It's a kind gesture by someone who is incredibly busy, but takes time to notice everything.

On the way back, I drive very carefully, especially through the speed cameras. Jane Stichbury is the sort of person who makes you feel you don't want to let her down.

Dorset police can be contacted on 01305 251212 or 01202 552099. The 999 number is only for use during emergencies.