Police numbers: The only thing you get for less is less

YOU don’t need a degree in statistics or an understanding of how Government works to see that falling police officer numbers and rising crime are linked, the Chairman of Essex Police Federation has said.

Steve Taylor said with recorded crime going up 10%, police officer numbers in England and Wales at their lowest levels since the 1980s and a rising population, it was obvious what was happening to law and order in the country. 

“The only thing you get for less is less,” said Steve.

“And whilst we try to do more with what we have, I’m not at all surprised that crime has increased. What is clear is that there are fewer officers available for our communities and crime is up. We see that on a daily basis because we’re at the cutting edge of that. For anyone to suggest that crime hasn’t gone up, well I’ve got no confidence in that view at all.”

Official figures show the biggest rise in crime in a decade at 10%. Public order offences are up 39%, violent crime up is 18%. Theft up is 7%, Sex offences are up 14%. Robbery is up 16%. And Burglary is up 3%.

Meanwhile across England and Wales there are now 123,142 police officers. That’s 20,592 fewer than there were in 2010.

In Essex Police, there are now 2,819 officers – that’s down 787 on 2010.

“That’s a huge number to lose,” added Steve. “We’re moving towards trying to have 2,850 officers, which still isn’t enough. It simply is not enough. Austerity has cut too deep and there are not enough officers to do that kind of work.

“We’ve already had a disproportionately high number of reduction in officer numbers, leaving those left behind with more to do. And let’s not forget as well, it’s not simply 2,819 officers available to work. We have restricted officers. We have officers off sick. We have officers on different teams and different departments. So the actual percentage of officers on the front line is significantly smaller than that number.

“What’s interesting is that the proportion of those officers on the front line are disproportionately high in terms of length of service. The frontline is full of new officers. New officers cutting their teeth and it’s not fair to throw them in the deep end like this.

“There are not the people around to give them advice and be role models. They are all just rushing from job to job.”