A POLICE chief today spoke out about how his officers constantly face the threat of violence on the streets and warned: "People no longer respect us."

Chief Superintendent Eddie Walsh claims criminals and trouble-causers no longer respect the police, while officers are under greater pressure to act professionally and ethically.

The man in charge of policing Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley is hanging up his uniform at the end of the month after a career spanning more than three decades.

His police career started with a stint as PC in Preston and has included postings as a detective and with the drugs squad.

The 56-year-old says the force and the problems his officers have to deal with have changed out of all recognition over the last 35 years.

He said: "When I first started, people used to respect authority and things are very different these days.

"Officers on duty late at night in town centres are often met with a total lack of respect. It is a difficult situation, particularly for very young officers.

"It used to be very uncommon for someone to attack the police and sadly that is no longer the case even for our women officers. "On the other side of the equation it is becoming more and more common for people to sue the police, particularly for wrongful arrest."

Mr Walsh added: "All that means that officers have to behave in a much more professional manner.

"Although they have better training and equipment, modern day officers have to deal with confrontational situations on a far more regular basis."

Mr Walsh also believes drugs offences and the number of criminals using guns has soared during his time in uniform.

He said: "Blackburn is no different to any other town or city and drugs are a major problem that have to be dealt with.

"The criminals involved in the drugs trade are also more likely to use guns to protect their drugs and that is a problem the police also have to tackle. "We should be looking at all levels of the drugs trade and somehow getting the public involved."

But according to Mr Walsh the police have been become much better at catching criminals thanks to the huge strides made in technology and scientific innovations.

He added: "The fact that the Home Secretary is the MP for Blackburn has put a greater spotlight on the area.

"The national media has tended to focus on Blackburn and many of Jack Straw's ideas and policies have come from his experiences in the town.

"One thing I will say is that it is nice to have the ear of the Home Secretary. Jack Straw has always been a very good constituency MP and his post in the Government has done nothing to change that.

"He is regularly in touch and we probably speak at least once a week."

What people in the street think

DENNIS LONES, 68, of Brownhill, Blackburn, said: "I have always found the police to be fine and I have a great deal of respect for them. I think they do a good job, but there clearly aren't enough of them. The greatest mistake was taking bobbies off the beat because people never get to meet policemen now.

"I would have no qualms about going to the police to report a crime. I've always found them helpful." STANLEY PATE, 72, of Lane Head, Burnley, said: "The younger generation don't have any respect for the police because they are too lenient on young offenders. They get away with too much nowadays, but I think you deserve punishment if you do something wrong.

"My generation respected the police because they were a little scared of them. They gave you a crack on the back of the legs if they caught you."

SHEILA CONNELL, 58, of Park Lee, Blackburn, said: "Young people do not respect their parents these days, so how are they supposed to respect the police?

We need to go back to the grass roots to address problems with respect and I think that that lesson should be taught by parents.

"I, personally, have never had any bad experiences with the police and have respect for officers because that was the way people from my generation were brought up."

JAWWAD YAQOOB, 22, of Dickinson Close, Blackburn, said: "The police are cool and I've got a lot of time and respect for them. If I was a police officer and saw someone wandering the streets at 4am, I'd stop them. They get too much stick.

"There are problems with the legal system though, especially the sending out of summonses. I didn't receive two summonses and ended up in prison for five days."