WHAT kind of police force can we expect in a modern society?

That would appear to be the question, un-asked, in the debate over the effect of making cuts to the number of officers in Hampshire.

As this paper reports today there are fears voiced by the Police Federation that more cuts will mean a force that will only be able to respond to calls for help.

This is not what communities want, they suggest, probably correctly. Communities wish for bobbies on the beat and officers being there for a wider role than simply chasing offenders.

But while such a world is desirable is it any longer possible when the cost of modern policing is so high and the demands on the force to combat new crimes such as Internet fraud and abuse grow at an increasing rate?

In short, can we ever return to a Midsomer Murders world that may never have existed, especially in an age when the pressures on bobbies will only increase as the pace of life gathers speed?