Here's a small observation from travel to major cities over the last few weeks - cops work.

Visible police on the street, work.

I never felt unsafe in London and I never felt unsafe in New York.

New York has the most crazies, they have a lot of homeless and they make a lot of noise and come across as aggressive at times.

But there is a cop on every corner.

There is a patrol car, a series of patrol cars, seemingly permanently parked wherever you are.

They wander the street, they arrive in minutes and their sirens are too loud and too permanent. But you can't argue they don't make you feel safe.

It's the same in London. London has knife crime and the new trend is attacks from thugs on motorbikes in flash areas; they speed by and grab a watch or a hand bag.

I never saw any of it. But the reputational damage is being done.

But, once again, the cops are everywhere.

They're wandering the streets, just like they used to do here.

I can't remember the last time I saw a police officer on the streets of this country, plus their cars are hard enough to spot.

Somewhere along the line someone decided walking the beat wasn’t good policing any more. They talk of community policing but I just don’t see it.

Further, I am convinced of the power of imagery. Get a cop with a stab-proof vest and an arsenal of weaponry, whether it be a baton, handcuffs, pepper spray or a gun, and you send a message. As I've told you before, the flash shops in San Francisco have guards with guns and dogs.

God forbid we ever end up there. But I'm still reading about the ram raids and the daylight attacks here. I didn’t read about them in New York or London and I didn’t, I suspect, because a cop was never far away.

At some point, someone has to add up the cost of all the crime and insurance and repair work and fear we have these days, versus the cost of actually getting some more police on the street.

The model is there to be seen. Visibility works.

I wouldn’t have thought it was that hard. But we seem to be trying to make it as hard as possible.