POLICE chiefs across the region have refuted claims that slogans attached to their forces are “pointless, confusing and costly”.

The Plain English Campaign (PEC) has called for an end to the use of slogans to market police forces to the public.

The group, which campaigns for public bodies to improve their English by dropping jargon, said the name of the force should tell people everything they need to know.

“Some are just meaningless,”

said a PEC spokesman.

“Northumbria’s slogan is ‘Total Policing’. What does that mean? Do some police forces operate partial policing?

It’s not just about wasting words – there has to be a cost to the public.”

A spokesman for Northumbria Police said the slogan was meant to show a complete approach encompassing the entire spectrum of policing.

“This logo has been in use for a number of years and demonstrates our commitment to reducing and preventing crime and meeting the policing needs of our communities,”

he said.

Sean White, Assistant Chief Constable of Cleveland Police, said its slogan, “Putting People First”, had helped make it one of the top performing forces in the country and among the top ten in terms of public confidence. “In these days of citizen-focused policing we believe that it is very important that the communities of Teesside know what their local police stands for and does with them and for them,” he said.

“There is of course a financial cost to establishing and reinforcing that important message, but we do not feel that such modest costs are excessive when compared with the hard work and clear achievement of the force in making the area safer.”

North Yorkshire Police has two slogans – “Safer Neighbourhoods”

and “Delivering modern policing in a traditional way”.

Carl Les, a member of the North Yorkshire Police Authority, said he fully supported the messages conveyed and said they cost the force nothing.

He said the first demonstrated the force’s understanding that protecting communities from anti-social crimes was as important as solving major crimes.

And the second showed it understood the type of policing its communities wanted.