What is envisioned for the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) is the central government would establish a performance management framework, whose precise targets would be populated at the local level. CDRPs would be accountable for their performance to local politicians rather than national ones. The future might then begin to see truly innovative solutions that are tailored to local problems. On a less radical note, there is a strong argument for more decentralized performance management systems. These abandon centrally-set targets that specify a given percentage reduction in crime. The more that central and local government share a vision of CDRPs as partnerships designed to tackle the small number of persistent offenders coming from very troubled families, the more likely it is that the people-processing agencies that are currently reluctant to engage in CDRPs work might see the logic in doing so. Utilizing the set up of CDRPs by local police and councils as required under the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, this chapter puts forth an explanation for the widespread implementation failure that has been seen in British initiatives to reduce crime through partnership work. Crime reduction efforts have not been seriously engaged because a rationalist perspective has put forth tactical solutions of a particular sort at the expense of strategic solutions. Table, references