Episode 1

With policing top of the political agenda, and major change on the way, Mark Easton asks what we want from our police.

Mark spends time with police officers doing jobs as diverse as roads policing, neighbourhood policing and monitoring sex offenders to paint a picture of how we are policed in 2012 and examine whether the daily reality matches the political rhetoric. And he speaks to politicians, academics and the public to assess whether what we are getting is what we want.

In this first programme, he digs into the origins of the current political debate over policing, and asks what the huge political changes lined up for policing in 2012 - including budget cuts and major changes to working practices - will mean for the service.

Producer: Giles Edwards.