“Officers will be drawn to the busier parts of the county”
RURAL villages in Essex may see fewer bobbies on the beat, the Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston has warned in a meeting about cuts to funding at the force.
Mark Smith, Chairman of Essex Police Federation, said: “This is something we have known for a long time. You cannot lose officers and continue to police in the same way. Officers will be drawn to the busier parts of the county and rural areas will suffer. Cuts have Consequences.”
Nick Alston joined Chief Inspector Alan Cook, District Commander for Maldon and Chelmsford, and Superintendent Steve Ditchburn at a meeting of Maldon District Council’s crime and disorder committee. Mr Alston warned that the visible police presence across the Dengie is likely to be reduced in light of the financial savings the force must make.
“Please don’t think I’m here saying that everything will be right as rain,” said Mr Alston. “Can I guarantee that people in some of the smaller villages will see officers every night? No I can’t. But I think we need to take a more holistic approach to policing.
“We shouldn’t be alarming people – we should be looking to reassure people.”
Ch Insp Cook said the community policing team would be based in Chelmsford because it is “too small to be spread around”. However, he explained that his challenge was to ensure that the Maldon district received an “equitable share of the resources”.
Supt Ditchburn also reassured the committee that the Maldon district would not be left behind. “There won’t be a situation where there are no officers working in Maldon, and I don’t want you to think that we are withdrawing from Maldon,” he said.
However, Mr Alston cast doubt on the long-term future of Maldon’s police station, which is due to have its opening hours reduced, the Essex Chronicle reported.
“No decision has been made yet,” said the Police and Crime Commissioner. “But I think it is pretty unlikely we will have Maldon police station in a couple of years.”
Last month, Chancellor George Osborne announced that there would be no further cuts to the police service budget over this parliament. However, the Police Federation of England and Wales has pointed out that many forces still have the “final tranche of savings from the last set of cuts to find”.
Essex Police had proposed to cut the number of community support officers across Maldon and Chelmsford from 31 to seven. However, the decision on overall PCSO cuts has been deferred until next year.
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