Police Force to be CUT by more than 10,000 

08 February 2011

More than 10,000 police officers in England and Wales are to be cut over the next two years in England and Wales, according to Labour Party research. 

Chief Constables and Police Authorities across England & Wales have confirmed only part of the scale of the cuts to police numbers we are to see this year and next. 10,190 police officers are to be cut. 

These figures expose the claim from the Tory-led Government that they can cut the Police budget by 20 per cent and still protect the frontline as false.

Labour’s research of all 42 Police Authorities (excepting British Transport Police) has found that thousands of full time police officers are set to be axed, or have already been cut, from police forces across the UK. In addition thousands of staff jobs will be cut or have already gone – meaning more administrative work must be carried out by police officers. 

The Coalition’s Spending Review introduced police budget cuts of 20% by 2014-15. According to Labour’s research, the job losses will be a consequence of cutting the police budget by a fifth.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said

Far from protecting frontline policing as ministers promised, over 10,000 police officers are being cut in the next few years alone

The Police Federation, which represents police officers, said numbers were on track to fall back to the level of the 1970s. Chairman Paul McKeever said:

We’re going to be back below 215 officers per 100,000. We’re 257 at the moment, and I’m one of the very few police officers old enough to remember what it was like back in the 1970s……………We really were in meltdown then, it was very bad news indeed. We’ve improved enormously over the last 30 years, through increased funding and the resources we’ve had, and we’re going to lose an awful lot of that.

The head of the Police Superintendents’ Association, Derek Barnett, said whilst they can reduce bureaucracy and streamline back office services, there would “inevitably” be an impact on front-line services.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said there were difficult choices ahead for the police service, for police partners and for government.  A spokeswoman said:

The cumulative impact of cutting police budgets year-on-year will translate into reductions of police officers and staff across the service.

 

 

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USE THIS LINK TO READ ARTICLE IN THE DAILY MIRROR ON SUBJECT DATED 08/11/2011