While it may be hard to believe, things are improving, in some cases quite significantly. Overall, crime has fallen 42 per cent since 1995.

Says who? The police? The Government? No, actually the British Crime Survey – an independent body which conducts nationwide interviews, talking to people rather than interrogating computers.

So what does that figure mean? For a start, it means almost eight million fewer criminal offences. Set in the context of the longest period of falling crime for almost a century, it also means that something is working – and that "something" is policing.

Over this same period, policing has changed beyond all recognition. The changes have been apparent not just in terms of the public face of the police (uniforms, vehicles, equipment, personnel), but less visible aspects of internal mechanisms and management.

Most commentators would agree that policing is now intelligence-led and intelligently led; it is receptive, responsive and consultative; it is community-focused, delivered in partnership, and supported by effective communication; and it is overseen by robust governance through clear accountability.

So why are we not celebrating? The absence of celebration comes partly from the sad fact that good news is no news; little ticker tape is devoted to "breaking success stories" on 24-hour news channels. Then there is our natural scepticism born of bitter experience and an inherent mistrust of numbers.

For many, Disraeli's aphorism about there being "lies, damn lies and statistics" was oxymoronic: statistics can support anything and tell you nothing. And, while the sharp end of policing makes up a huge chunk of TV airtime, the dull end is often seen as just that.

And if that were not enough, there is an embedded perception among the public that they have no influence on the way they are policed. This perception also has statistical evidence to back it up in the form of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another unimpeachable witness.

Their research shows that almost 60 per cent of the public feel they have no influence over the police and little say in decisions about policing. But the reality is that they do have a voice and they do have the authority – literally and figuratively – to influence policing.

It is the job of police authorities to hold the police to account and those authorities are made up of locally-elected representatives and independent members from within
the communities.

Yes, the Home Secretary has ultimate responsibility to Parliament for strategic policing issues, and chief constables are solely responsible for operational matters, but it is police authorities who are responsible for ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of a local police force and for consulting with the public on policing matters. Those same police authorities agree the policing plans and targets with their chief constables to ensure that the policing delivered in their area is attuned to local needs and priorities. Clearly, some are more successful than others.

Now the Government is about to publish a Green Paper setting out yet more proposals for policing. Those proposals will probably include changes to police authority structures and may even suggest scrapping
them altogether, replacing them with locally-elected sheriffs.

In his independent review of policing, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Ronnie Flanagan makes no recommendations for doing away with police authorities; he does, however, note potential shortcomings of direct elections in police governance, concerns such as the low turnout in local elections, parochial issues blocking collaboration between forces on regional priorities, the loss of experience and expertise among police authorities and the fact that even a fully elected police authority would face the problem of remoteness from its electorate.

Returning to the numbers: police forces, their respective police authorities and most importantly their communities have much to be positive about – and plainly much more to do.

Having brought about the reported reductions in criminal activity, it is now necessary for those in charge of policing to bring about a correlative increase in the trust, satisfaction and thereby the confidence of the communities on whom they rely.

Experience shows that this is most likely to be achieved through improved interaction between the people tasked with delivering policing and the public, strengthening the capability and capacity of accountability bodies to fulfil their functions. In the Yorkshire and Humber Region, one further step towards this interaction begins next week with the recruitment of new independent members to police authorities, following a regional advertising campaign which has generated a great deal of interest and a very positive response.

At a moment when there seems so little on the horizon to cheer us, should we not be recognising achievement and engaging with our strengths?

Fraser Sampson takes over as the chief executive of
West Yorkshire Police Authority on Monday.