Pubdate: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Copyright: Guardian Media Group 2000 Contact: http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Author: Nicholas Watt, Political correspondent WIDDECOMBE DOUBT ON TOUGH POLICING Rudolf Guiliani, New York's fearsome republican mayor who is credited with reducing the city's crime rate, will meet his match later this week when Ann Widdecombe storms into town to study his "zero tolerance" initiative. The shadow home secretary, whose public profile has slipped in recent months, will tomorrow visit the New York police's "Model Block" project which has successfully reduced crime rates by refusing to tolerate the slightest of misdemeanours. Championed by Mr Giuliani, the project has become known as "broken windows" because police have found that serious crimes have fallen when officers concentrate on apparently trivial crimes such as broken windows. Miss Widdecombe will kick off her trip in Washington today when she goes out on patrol with the DC Metro Police just outside the centre of the city. Before she flew to New York last night, the shadow home secretary was forced to admit that she would struggle to copy Mayor Giuliani's "zero tolerance" policy because even she would be unable to muster the necessary numbers of police. New York has seen its police numbers increase by 11,000 in recent years. Asked whether zero tolerance would work in Britain, she told the BBC's Westminster Hour: "It would be very difficult indeed just to come up with a pledge for that level of policing. I am going to see if there is anything we can learn, but I do not go there with a presumption that we can copy what Mayor Giuliani has done." Miss Widdecombe hopes to use Mayor Giuliani's success to step up the pressure on the home secretary over police numbers. Jack Straw has faced embarrassment after police numbers dropped. Miss Widdecombe is following a path that has been well-trodden by Tories in recent years. Jeffrey Archer visited Mayor Giuliani during his ill-fated campaign to become London mayor. William Hague also travelled to the US last year to try and find inspiration from George W Bush. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea