When Exactly Is This Home Secretary Going To Listen?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Crime Is Down, Reform Is Working.

How many times have we heard that?

Is Crime down?

Not according to figures released a few days ago, massively up when you include Fraud and CyberCrime, and just becasue we have never counted them before does not mean that don’t impact upon our resources.

Is Reform working?

That was the subject of a very heated debate on Twitter last night between some of our beter-known Twitterati, and I have to be honest I gave in and went to bed before the combatants reached an agreement I think.

However, my meagre contribution to the debate was this;

Returning to Mrs May’s speech to the Federation Conference earlier this year;

“So police reform is working. By cutting bureaucracy and central targets, we have saved up to 4.5 million police hours – the equivalent of 2,100 full-time officers.

The frontline service has been maintained and the proportion of officers in frontline roles has gone up to 91%.”

Frontline roles filled to a level of 91%>   Really?  In your Force are they?

4 and a half million hours freed up, 2,100 officers.  Sounds impressive.  Except that we have already lost 17,500 officers due to ‘Reform’, so that’s -15,400 in my book, working?  Really?

What do the Chief Constables think about it all?  They’ve joined in a bit late for my liking, they should have been banging their drums alongside the rank and file 4-5 years ago, but that doesn’t mean that what they have to say isn’t valid.

So what have they said?

The Chief Constable of Lancashire has said that his Force “will not be viable after 2020”  Mr Finnigan said the county faced the harshest budget cuts in England, which could potentially see the force becoming a “blue light” service, responding to emergencies only.   Mounted and dog sections along with road policing units could be lost and community policing cut.  Lancashire’s PCC called the cuts ‘Savage’ and predicted that they would have a ‘devastating effect’ on policing in Lancashire.

Jerry Graham, Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary, had thisa to say

Simon Bailey, Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary says that his Force is in a ‘Critical Condition’ due to the cuts.

Chief Constable Simon Bailey said the public needs to “think differently” about how the area is likely to be policed in future.

He said: “The scale and pace of cuts to the policing budget, taken together with unparalleled growth in complex crime and new demand, means the service has reached a critical point.

“The next round of public sector budget reductions will be a game-changer for policing in Norfolk

Even Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, Met Commissioner, believes that London will be put at risk by proposed police cuts that would see up to 8,000 officers axed.

London put at risk?  Aren’t the Police supposed to protect the Public?

I could go on, but I won’t. I’m sure you’ve got the message.  Not Theresa’s message, but the truer message.

How IS Police reform working?  If I have missed it, or the discussion on Twitter has solved the riddle please let me know.

In the meantime exactly when IS Theresa May going to listen to the people who know.  The people on the front line doing the job. The Chief Constables and PCCs in charge of them all.

Just in case that never happens I’m off to lie down in a darkened room and do my homework.

Crime is down, Reform is working,  Crime is down, Reform is working, crime is down, Reform is working.

Enjoyed the post? Share it?
0
0

3 thoughts on “When Exactly Is This Home Secretary Going To Listen?”

  1. With regards to crime figures apparently come down.

    from my own experience in dealing with many victims of crime and having to report crimes on their behalf, many victims no longer report crime wrongly believing it is a waste of time and I am sure that this is a factor rather than any genuine reduction of crime.

    Competency of officers in understanding relevant aspects of the law is also quite poor, I think that ticking boxes via e learning is no substitute for classroom learning conducted by experienced uniform and CID officers.

    1. In my opinion e-learning is just an arse-covering exercise so that Senior Management can wash their hands when the wheel comes off “they’ve had the training, it’s their fault”

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top
Verified by MonsterInsights