Letter - Police cuts a concern
We represent the constables, sergeants and inspecting ranks within West Mercia Police and, just like your letter writer (Richard Camp, 6 August 2012), welcome the news that chief officers are now admitting 20 per cent cuts to policing will affect front-line policing.
We represent the constables, sergeants and inspecting ranks within West Mercia Police and, just like your letter writer (Richard Camp, 6 August 2012), welcome the news that chief officers are now admitting 20 per cent cuts to policing will affect front-line policing.
Since August 2010, West Mercia Police has lost 114 officer posts, although to meet the budget cuts the force is keeping posts vacant so we actually have 183 fewer officers than two years ago.
Over the next four years there will be a further 90 posts lost between West Mercia and Warwickshire – the two forces operating in an alliance. It is not yet clear how many of these will be West Mercia officers but I estimate it will be between 60 and 70 as we are the larger force.
As we seek to make savings forced upon us by the Government's austerity mea sures, there are also likely to be police station closures in the West Mercia area.
Yet, as recently as two weeks ago, police minister Nick Herbert was reportedly saying – when new figures showed police numbers had dropped to a nine-year low – that the service police were giving to the public was 'largely being maintained'.
How can that be true? The public do not want to see police stations closed and they repeatedly say they want to see more officers on the streets not less.
Police officers are doing everything they can to provide a high quality service for the communities they serve. They run towards danger when others run away and, with other public services being hit by the cuts, are regularly stepping in to pick up the pieces.
This was admirably demonstrated in the run-up to the Olympics when the G4S security shambles unfolded. The police and the Army were drafted in to boost security as the weaknesses of the Government's privatisation policies were exposed.
But our resources can only be stretched so far. No-one is telling us which parts of the service we shouldn't provide. Service to the public will suffer, front-line policing will be hit.
The Acting Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary last week admitted his force had cut numbers 'too hard' and 'too fast'. We are not surprised. We predict other chief officers will soon be making similar admissions. Now let's see if the Government is prepared to admit that it may have got it wrong.
Ken Mackaill. Chairman, West Mercia Police Federation
