Reducing poverty and providing people with more opportunities is the "best way" to prevent crime, a police chief has said.
Andy Cooke, who is retiring as Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, said fewer people will resort to committing serious offences if they are offered "a legal opportunity to actually earn money".
Mr Cooke, who held his position for five years, also said that if he was given a £5 billion budget to cut crime he would spend £4 billion on tackling poverty.
He told The Guardian : "The best crime prevention is increased opportunity and reduced poverty. That's the best way to reduce crime.
"So there needs to be substantial funding into the infrastructure of our inner cities and our more deprived areas.
"Why do people get involved in crime and serious crime? It's because the opportunities to make money elsewhere aren't there for them.
"And never more so than in our inner cities and in our more difficult to police areas."
He said more needs to be done to tackle deprivation and offer people "a viable alternative" to committing crime.
Asked what he would do if he was given £5 billion to cut crime, Mr Cooke said he would spend £1 billion on law enforcement and the rest on reducing poverty and increasing opportunity.
"If you give [someone] a legal opportunity to actually earn money, a legal opportunity to actually have a good standard of living, a number of people would take that because they know they can sleep in their beds at night," he said.
"They don't have to worry about what's happening with the kids and what's happening with their families and the doors going through at seven in the morning."
He also said the "solution" is "building community cohesion" by creating more opportunities for young people".
During his 36-year career as a police officer, Mr Cooke has held several roles, including being in charge of the Robbery Squad and Target Operations at the Major Crime Unit.
He was also the first commander of the Matrix unit, that was responsible for tackling gangs and gun crime in Liverpool.
Mr Cooke has been appointed to the role of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Inspector of Fire and Rescue Authorities in England.
In his new role, he will oversee inspections primarily in the North of England.
