POLICE officers are on the front line of the fight against terrorism and the service needs to be properly funded and supported, Essex Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Essex Police has undergone a raft of changes thanks to budget reductions, losing 600 officers, cutting back on specialist teams and shutting or moving 15 police stations.<\/p>\n
And following the Paris attacks in November, Mark Smith, Essex Federation Chairman said there was nothing left to give.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe\u2019re struggling with the cuts that we\u2019ve already had, and as we move forward into further cuts, as we know, we are going to struggle even more. There are some things that will have to stop. Which I believe is unsafe for the communities that we police.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen making decisions about budgets, I don\u2019t think politicians will bear in mind the threats that the country currently faces. Since the terrorist attacks in Paris I\u2019ve been watching the news, listening to George Osborne, to Theresa May, to the Prime Minister, and they have given no indication that they will U-turn on planned cuts to police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey keep saying that they\u2019ve put extra money into special forces, they\u2019ve put extra money into the intelligence gathering and the hi-tech side of it.<\/p>\n
“But the special forces are not the ones on the street who are going to be the first to have to cope with what\u2019s happening. We haven\u2019t got that many special forces and they\u2019re not going to be deployed that way.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s police officers who are going to be on the front line and who will be facing the first attacks. So do I think that they\u2019re being properly supported? No I do not.\u201d<\/p>\n
The police service is expecting cuts of between 20% and 40%, but it will have to wait until the Chancellor\u2019s Autumn Statement to find out exactly how much further budgets will reduce.<\/p>\n
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