Beat bobbies face the axe
Up to 650 police jobs – including 90 bobbies on the beat – are to be axed over the next four years under plans for West Mercia police to work more closely with a second force.
Up to 650 police jobs – including 90 bobbies on the beat – are to be axed over the next four years under plans for West Mercia police to work more closely with a second force.
The jobs, across both the West Mercia and Warwickshire forces, are being cut to try to save more than £30 million.
The cuts come after the two forces agreed a deal to work together to make sure they avoid duplicating services.
West Mercia Chief Constable David Shaw today accepted the cuts were ‘uncomfortable’ but insisted there was no other option.
The number of staff across both forces will fall from 5,400 to 4,750 by April 2016, but Mr Shaw said it was 280 fewer job losses than if they had made the reductions separately.
“We think there’s probably 280 posts we can keep out there protecting the public, that we couldn’t do if we weren’t doing this with Warwickshire, so it is one of these things that absolutely makes sense.”
He said West Mercia currently spent 82 per cent of its money on salaries and pensions and cuts were inevitable in the current economic situation.
The Alliance will see resources shared across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
It will mean some vehicles being shared and joint IT systems. There will be fewer people employed in support roles, fewer managers and police supervisors and both forces are seeking more Special Constables and other volunteers.
West Mercia Police needs to reduce its operating costs by £20.1 million by the end of 2015/16 and Warwickshire by £10.2 million.
Mr Shaw said: “It is not a comfortable position to be in and sadly it will have implications on the number of police officers and policing staff.
“But this is the best possible plan. I have been in policing for over 30 years and I understand how to get the best service for the public with the resources we have.
“We are right behind communities when they need us. It is not just about responding to calls.”
Comments for: "Beat bobbies face the axe "
rob harris
Nice to see the tories/lib dems have got their priorities right.Whats next - 999 calls redirected to a call centre in Mumbai!!What were the stats for burglary detection in Shropshire again? Daily reports of horrific crimes against the young and elderly - not only nationally but locally!Muggings at night now a common occurrence both in Shrewsbury and Telford.
But "David Shaw today accepted the cuts were ‘uncomfortable’" so all's well then!! just uncomfortable.
turboman
Its funny how the useless plastic bobbies are being protected!!Policing on the cheap!Hopeless detection rates for Burglary!!Things will only get worse!
Devilschair
This government is being ecomomic with the truth when it said it wouldn't cut front-line service now its forced them to happen.
Come one Conservatives remember what conservatism stands for.. law and order for at least one thing!
Hold your party to account for its current failure.
blue boy
less managers, less support staff, this has got to be a good thing then
another great coalition policy showing we can cut this debt without cutting the front line there is so much slack in the public sector you can take out 20% easily in efficiencies and so the cuts are a win, win for everyone
towbar
Which planet do you live on them ??
Mr Magoo
I think if you read into the story with more depth you will see that front line officers have already been cut with plenty more to come.
cdc
Never see a bobby on the beat anyway.
Mr Magoo
I think you are still in the 60's or watching too much Heartbeat...
Terry
Errrrrr....
Do we actually have beat bobbies in Shrewsbury? Because I'm ammed ifI have ever seen one. Only thing I see are those plastic coppers called CSOs who can't even handle the local 5 year olds gobbing off at them.
Shrewsbury Pete
Perhaps if they didn't have so many 'specialist' units that predominantly work Mon-Fri 9-5 the 'frontline' as the press call it would be enhanced rather than reduced.
Strange I never thought that criminals kept to the standard working week so why aren't the police mirroring the needs of the public /where the demand is rather than the needs of their social lives?
Bobbie wannabe
I will never manage to become a police officer at this rate :(
CB
There are more police forces than just West Mercia and Warwickshire, there's a big world out there, talented people will always be sought after, if you're parochial or in the slightest insular they will avoid you like the plague, the police will become like the 1960's army, be prepared to travel.
Richard Jones
West Mercia appear to be presenting this as a done deal. I'm pretty sure however that the elected PCC will have the power to pull West Mercia out of any strategic alliance agreement. Which is probably why it is being rushed through now.
So if the people don't like the idea being presented, just refuse to vote for any PCC that doesn't agree to reverse the proposal.
The quality of candidate so far doesn't appear to be too high so I'm sure they will agree to anything to get elected.
towbar
Yet more cuts to front line real-time policing,
resulting in West Mercia officers being on call to the Warwickshire Police Force 24/7.
The result of a request by West Mercia for the loan of some in return is a foregone conclusion.
No wonder the chief constable of Warwickshire Police is happy.
Smoke and Mirrors
I think it is worth mentioning this is only the start.
The goverment is already looking into privatising the Police with iniciatives to make Police more like security Guards.
An back end staff doing the investigation and paperwork.
Reducing salaries for Student Officers.
Police Comissioners take away Policing by public consent and politicising the Police.
Welcome to the slippery slope of Public Protection.
Lets support the bobbies by putting pressure on local councillors and MP's.
We all pay our taxes!!!
Richard Jones
The question has to be asked why the Police Authority is approving this proposal with only months to go until the election of the PCC? Surely this is something that should be left until a democratically elected commissioner is in post?
If anyone doesn't like the sound of the proposal lobby the PCC candidates and make your views clear-the PCC can reverse the proposal.
Andrew finch
The public should be up in arms that police officers jobs will be axed .
We need to know how many PSCO are we being palmed off with? these roles should be axed first not police officers .
As it stands we are going to end up with a UK police force which resembles something on par with the movie "police academy" and only good for pr photo exercises .
PCSO are made up of people who could never cut it as a fully qualified and trained police officer , as such they should be got rid of as an experiment which is not fit for purpose and we need to retain properly trained police officers , and i assume the police federation think this too.
Ex bizzie
Don't get me wrong there is a lot of savings to be made in police but didn't that useless PM say he was going to cut number of MP's? Anyhow we ain't got a police force since labour took away an officers discretion and brought on the human rights act!
pete
echr 1950 eh HRA 1998 is it well thats what you get for voting labour Hahahahah
R Suppards
It doesn't take a genius to work out that at a time of severe financial constraints, unemployment etc, what you need are more, not less, Bobbies on the Beat to cope with the resultant increase in lawlessness.
PCSOs are useless. "Stop! Or ... I'll say STOP again!"
Roger
All of this is tinkering and not addressing the real problems. The police have "lost the plot". Burglaries are rising with a clear up rate down to 20%. That was an alarming item of news. How does any of this address that issue?
We need something much more radical than what is being proposed. Earlier we had a thread on the police where reorganising the police was suggested. Local police reflecting the local authority areas, paid for and reporting to the local authority. With a National police Force dealing with common issues and serious crime report to and paid for through the home office budget. The transfer out all highway patrol functions to an enhanced Highways Agency. Then our Police would be ours and our police commissioner could run them and be answerable at the local level.
Back to basics and dealing with crime and disorder.
Watchdog
It's ridiculous. The UK population is burgeoning and will soon exceed that of Germany, the economy is in rag order with little hope of improvement in the near future and the government's response? Cut funding for the police. Brilliant. As for the privatization of the police. Yep - "Your call is being held in a queue etc" can't be far away and we can probably expect a surcharge for a visit or the issue of a crime number before long. It's not just insane, it's completely unacceptable.
turboman
A Royal Commision is required!This will stop all the Police bashers blaming the Police for just about everything!That way the Police role will be newly defined in this new century instead of trying to do everything to please everyone!!At least that will shut up the politically Correct elite that run this useless broke country!!
DevilsChair
Turboman yes - a royal commision, but not one that lasts years and rsults buried or ignored. Levenson seems to be good (I've yet to believe something will come of that though).
Your weakness is that most of the 'Police bashers' are bashing those who run the Police and more often the political meddlers who mess with the Police.
For too many years we have seen politicians using the publics' services as a toy to play with to attempt to make themselves look good or the otherside look bad.
We need a cross-government definition of what the next 5 to 10 years 'journey' (with review after 5years) will be for schools, police, transport, health etc will be - and that ratifying by a countrywide vote. Then - they're released to know just what spare money is left over for their vanity projects. From that we will have people employed who can GET ON WITH THEIR JOBS instead of worrying whether they are going to have to waste too much of their time defending what they (AS SKILLED PEOPLE) know is correct.
IF you want messers to fiddle with things - then its the papers - those fancy knowitalls in London who looks for anything to bring down or undermine because it looks 'clever'. That is the heart of the cancer that keeps Britain down. Wail daily.. I might do.
BB
In response to every comment that is negative and aimed at the knocking the hard work police do...I say Work a month in the shoes of a police officer and then lets see if your views on this article change. How many people go to work and have to put themselves at risk of being assaulted, abused, and risk their own lives? How many people have their days off cancelled at the drop of a hat to cover other shifts? The next time your in trouble who you gonna call?...it'll probably be 999
Roger
I think what you are saying is that the police are not happy with their lot and are resentful of the way they have been left to deal with societies misfits and failures. They are right to a point. Politicians have failed to address the social issues and their policies make matters worse.
On the other side of the equation we need to consider the police as both a whole and individually. On the whole they are over managed on statistics and too remote from the public they serve. Individually they are over empowered and abusive in the way they use their powers. They are only dealing with the issues as they arise, taking far too long deal with straight forward cases and being forced to micro managing at low level by incessant paperwork and processes. They (The collective police) have lost the plot. We don't deal with the police we deal with forty different police forces all working differently remote from the home office going up and the Local Authority going down. They are a law onto themselves cocooned against outside influences at all levels.
I'm sure individual officers are doing their best as they see it and as they are directed but the public does not share their views on everything.
They all joined voluntarily and can leave if it does not meet their expectations. But it is their job and we are paying them, the police as a whole, to do it properly. We share the same frustrations with this government, but like the rest of us they will have to wait until 2015 before we can start putting it right.
Richard Jones
BB, we aren't knocking officers. We are debating the proposal to save money by reducing front-line police officer numbers, which in turn will make the job for every officer harder. I think you are in the wrong debate. I know how hard a police officer's job is.
Katherine de Gama
Well, Turboman, the last one gave us PACE and the CPS....
Roger
Two issues which should be tested to see if they are delivering. I think you would find failure in both cases.
Katherine de Gama
Thee last Royal Commissin gave us the the Police and Criminal Evidence Act ann the CPS.
Roger
Nothing wrong with law or the intent. Just the practice.
Flamenco red
Nonsense, Turbo. From a member of the politically correct elite whose father was a copper.
Katherine de Gama
Re burglaries.... We had a spate of them a few years ago, culminating in my elderly father being assaulted. The police knew the culprit but hand the evidence to charde him. We live on Wyle Cop, which has CCTV but the resources weren't there to view it. Little changes could make a difference. Why isn't footage on the web so any interested member of the public can watch it?
BB
Because it would get abused by idiots plus its an intrusion o human rights.
Roger
Very good point. If it was, our personal experience could have been avoided. The retention period is four weeks which is also inadaquate given the delays in the investigation of reports. Keep replays available for on line access for two weeks and retain tapes for six months with public access for specified reasons.
The graduate
It is not for a police officer or you to say "He did it" but for the police to gather evidence send to crown prosecution service and then they decide what to do .
If you put pictures or video on the web you can bet your bottom dollar it would be abused on par with the idiots who beat up a pediatrician because they thought he was a pedophile.
You have to consider the thick folk out in our wonderful country and some hold down good jobs so you cant stereo type a thicko.
Katherine de Gama
@ BB and Graduate. I see your points re public access to CCTV.
Roger
Your utopia is not realistic.
The police only collect evidence to support their case and the CPS only prosecutes certainties. The Police accuse the innocent and the CPS decline the charges because there is insufficient evidence for certainty and the case goes to "no further action".
The Police are kept busy pursuing cases which come to nothing. Some innocents are defamed without an opportunity to challenge police allegations and some guilty are never charged. None of this visible, or subject to scrutiny.
BB
So Roger, you make an allegation of a crime, person A has done X. How in your world would you see fit for the police to investigate it.......
Woody
I reckon a handful of Judge Dredd's would answer all our problems....
Mark
Plus a smattering of Robocops.
blue boy
there is plenty of "slack" in the system to take out before any cutbacks effect frontline staffing levels, plenty. Like all public sector they are overpaid and underworked and so reductions will just increase productivity not actually effect services. These austerity measures will therefore actually improve the police, make them leaner, meaner and better at actually serving US the people who pay their wages after all!! Labour left us with form filling police not crime fighters and these efficiencies will allow more police to be on the frontline by reducing middle management and back office beaurocrats who do nothing for crime but suck up our hard earned taxes. We need to be tough on crime and Liberals and Labour cause crime by being too soft, a Conservative government is a government of low crime and low taxes.