TONY Blair is right to make the fight against crime a high priority but he must support the front line officers who put his words into action. Because dedicated officers who do go the extra mile to make the streets safer can too often find themselves under threat from officers with a distinct lack of passion for their profession and also from the very criminals they have put behind bars.

Yesterday's Queen's Speech is regarded as notice of a May election. I can well remember the eve of the last General Election when, for his final photocall, Mr Blair chose to come to Middlesbrough police station to learn more about Zero Tolerance policing, in some people's view a radical strategy which led to Cleveland police cutting crime more than any other force in Britain.

Mr Blair has now ensured that the central plan of that strategy - the reduction of crime - has become a compulsory goal for all forces.

It seems incredible now that, just a few years ago, there were chief constables who actually felt that the police could not reduce crime. This was a negative and defeatest attitude that was not shared by all.

In Middlesbrough, we achieved our success by taking on the yobs, the burglars and the thugs. We were determined to regain the streets and to ensure people felt safe in their homes. Stop checks ensured that criminals no longer carried knives and screwdrivers as a matter of course. As a result, muggings and break-ins fell.

We identified burglars as crime drivers; when we caught one there were no cosy deals for bail. They were invariably jailed and, with the ring leaders behind bars, crime fell across the board.

Public support increased because of the attitude of the police, but just as important was tackling the fear of crime which has a major impact on people's quality of life.

I describe the fear of crime as the quickening of your heart beat as you walk down a street and see gangs of youths loitering menacingly, or the terror of an elderly person who feels imprisoned or trapped in their home as yobs run riot outside.

Police officers were told that anti-social behaviour must be confronted, that turning a blind eye and doing nothing was not an option. In other words, we intervened.

The public were delighted. We won back their confidence and they came forward with valuable information and help in the overall fight against crime.

But success came with a price. It left officers open to attack from the usual quarters of lawyers, civil liberty groups and less motivated officers who would prefer a day behind a desk pushing a pen rather than patrolling and policing the streets.

Regular readers of this newspaper will know that myself and seven other detectives have been suspended for over three years as part of a corruption inquiry.

But, despite £6m of public money and thousands of police hours being spent, not a single criminal charge has been levelled. Indeed, I was cleared of any criminal conduct in June yet remain suspended.

Ratepayers have already been hit by a massive tax increase to pay for this and last week Cleveland Police Authority went to the Home Office to ask for more money.

Imagine what could have been achieved in the fight against crime if that £6m had been properly directed. In spite of my situation, I still have faith in Cleveland Police and the British police service as a whole and it is important that the public support their local police in any way they can, as collectively the police and public are a powerful force that the criminal cannot beat.

The modern police service should be seen as a career for bright, enthusiastic young people, where free thinking and innovative crime fighting ideas are welcomed.

If Labour's plans to tackle the yob culture are to work, Mr Blair must ensure that those who put his words into action are protected from the red tape that can strangle innovative policing strategies at birth.