NEXT to DNA fingerprinting, CCTV and psychological profiling, the Police On Doorsteps initiative sounds very old fashioned. But that is something to celebrate. This is an unashamedly back-to-basics scheme and all the better for it.

The bonds that tie the police to their community have been torn over the past 40 years. As force resources have become more stretched, and crime-fighting more sophisticated, officers have gradually become more remote figures.

Regular foot patrols were whittled away as strategic, target-led policing took over. This was an essential shift in an era of high crime. But there is a consensus that the process has gone too far.

Before now, most neighbourhoods only saw the police when they reacted to a call for help. Officers became rapid response units: rapidly in, rapidly out.

This emergency assistance, criminal-catching role is the core duty of the police. But there should be more to the job than that. At its best, policing is about helping the public in the broadest sense.

With their doorstep initiative, York police are striving to be visible again. Officers are taking the time to listen to residents.

Such a simple idea, but one which will reap rewards. Improved community policing will deter the opportunistic criminal and reduce fear of crime.

Residents will be more inclined to pass on information to a police officer they know. And young people, who are suspicious of authority figures, might begin to realise that officers are human beings with a difficult job to do.

This is a good day for community life for a second reason. Bus company First has announced its intention to restore evening buses to Chapelfields in York. They were removed after being repeatedly targeted by vandals.

Bosses recognise that reinstating the service is "an act of faith". But it is crucial that we do not let a handful of yobs force the closure of a service vital to the law-abiding majority. First's directors, and its drivers, deserve our thanks for sticking by this principle.

Updated: 10:52 Friday, July 26, 2002