A senior police officer has clashed with the force’s crime commissioner over the value of “bobbies on the beat”.

Canterbury district Ch Insp Mark Arnold, who took up the post last week, says more officers patrolling the district’s streets is often a waste of resources.

His views fly in the face of those held by Police Commissioner Ann Barnes, who says every penny she gets will fund “more visible policing”.

The pair were were speaking on a visit to Herne Bay and Whitstable on Friday.

Ch Insp Arnold said: “If you just put a policeman out walking and there is nothing for them to do, that is not always a good and effective use of resources.

“Wherever possible we put our officers and police staff in the areas that need it most.

“But our primary job is to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and what we have got to do is target those people who cause the most harm.”

Elected last November to ensure the efficient running of the force, Mrs Barnes says the key to better policing is more officers in the community.

It is a strategy she and Chief Constable Ian Learmonth agree on.

She insists there are no “loggerheads” between her and any officers on the subject.

She said: “I know there is a school of thought that putting people on your streets actually doesn’t cut crime. They think it is the intelligence work.

“I don’t buy that. If police have a rapport with local communities, who tell them about things that are worrying them, their presence cuts crime.

“Every penny I get is going to go into more visible community policing.

“There is no difference between me and the Chief Constable on this. It is agreed between us that this is what we need.

“What the Chief Constable says and what the commissioner says, goes.”

Money was made available on April 1 for 20 new PCSOs, 20 new police officers and 20 new custody officers.

The new recruits are undergoing training and are expected to be working from July 1.

A fleet of mobile police stations will also begin operation on the same day, visiting 360 different locations a month.

Mrs Barnes said: “The one thing everybody wants is more visible community policing. That is the one thing that has gone with the cuts to funding.

“You cannot lose a fifth of your workforce and still be as visible as you were before. There are not the bodies to be visible.

“I am trying my very best to make available more resources for more visible community policing.”

Woolley’s Menswear in Whitstable High Street was the first place visited by Mrs Barnes, Ch Insp Arnold and PCSO Mike Keam.

The shop’s part-owner Karen Adam said: “You never see any officers.

“It would be nice if the police were more visible. There always used to be a local bobby.

“That would be brilliant but we know the police haven’t got the money to do that.”

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