Demands on Essex Police officers “too great, too numerous”

ESSEX Police is now so short of frontline police officers that an extra 150 police officers promised is only a small step in the right direction.

Essex Police had 3,606 police officers in 2010 – the force now has 2,857. That’s 749 fewer. Steve Taylor, Chairman of Essex Police Federation said an 150 extra police officers promised following a council tax precept hike was a good start – but more is needed. He said: “Our members are around; they’re working hard, they’re visible when they can be visible but, with there being so few of us trying to do so much, gone are the times of being able to walk the high street or the council estate.

“The demands that we are dealing with are just too great and too numerous. So we are behind the wheel of a car, making the best use of our time. The decision from on high is that the proactive benefits of being seen to be walking round the neighbourhood aren’t big enough to warrant writing an officer on to do that unfortunately.”

According to a survey from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, 44% of people have not seen a uniformed officer in their area in over a year – a national increase from 41% in 2016 and 36% in 2015.

“This is absolutely all to do with cuts”, Steve added. “We can all identify the benefits to being visible, community engagement, walking the beat, building those relationships, neighbourhood policing and how they ripple through every facet of the organisation. But unfortunately it’s a luxury that, at present, we just cannot afford.”

The force is looking to recruit up to 150 extra police officers following a precept hike, but this will only take the pressure off existing officers – it is unlikely to enable the force to carry out extra work.

Steve added: “It is a small step in the right direction. But the independent consulting that the force undertook showed that just to stand still, to deal with today’s demand today, we need an additional 280 officers. While we welcome the additional officers, its the tip of the iceberg.”