Importance of statistics

I appears that somewhere out there, the perceived decent into mistrust by the management or justification of their position means that we have to submit ever more 'important' statistical information, which is more than probably duplicated from other pieces of paperwork. The reason for this is to justify our existence by wasting time submitting statistical information to allow others to judge our performance against whatever the current 'in' target is, as highlighted by one or other daily/weekly/monthly meetings. Some Forces even have a meetings flow-chart. Some Forces have even made this one of the objectives for officers to achieve in their yearly appraisal system, the accurate and prompt submission of paperwork, including relevant stats of course. The days when officers used their common sense in tandem with Policing skills and gleaned info from crime & intelligence briefing sheets appears top be long gone to allow then to direct/target their patrols have faded off into the ether. They are told what the target is, often after they have already become aware of the problem by using their skills. Who said anything about reducing paperwork to get more on the streets ? Well someone has because they have it splashed over the various forms of media and news. Not one single mention of positive or negative returns here, just saying what everyone knows but is doing nothing about it as usual.