Unfortunately for everyone, including the police, policing has changed.

I'm saying that as an outsider who doesn't really know. But, from what I can see, there are too few police on the ground and in police stations to be able to cope with crime and anti-social behaviour issues, whether due to alcohol or drug abuse or mental health. There's a lack of respect for the police, which doesn't help them, and I understand that they need to do copious amounts of paperwork to record even the most straightforward stop or arrest, so the job must be increasingly frustrating and thankless for them, but they still try for us.

After all that, I do share your sense of dispair in seeing so much crime going unpunished, but I'm sure that's more to do with under-funding than as a result of a PSCO spending maybe half a day every two or three months putting a community newsletter out.