Suffolk would gain an additional 378 police officers under Conservative proposals announced by David Ruffley MP today. In all, 40,000 extra officers, over and above existing plans, would be recruited in England and Wales over an eight-year period, beginning in the second year of the next Conservative Government. These increases would be funded by scrapping the existing asylum system and replacing it with a rational, quota-based system for refugees. Announcing the proposals, David said: 'This radical policy will have an enormous impact on the fight against crime. An effective system of neighbourhood policing is vital to reclaiming our streets across the towns and villages of Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Needham Market for the honest citizen. If we are to tackle criminality and disorder effectively, we need far more police officers for Suffolk than are currently being proposed by the Government.

'Real neighbourhood policing produces results. That's what we've seen from New York. As a result of neighbourhood policing, murders fell by two-thirds, overall crime fell by 57 per cent and gun crime came down by 75 per cent during Mayor Giuliani's time in charge. In fact, crime fell across all the major categories. We need the same kind of revolution in policing in this country. We must police both local urban and rural areas as intensively as the Americans police theirs, and provide true neighbourhood policing throughout Suffolk. We need a level of attention to dealing with street crime and disorder not witnessed in our police forces today.'