Letter - Police cuts a concern
We represent the constables, sergeants and inspecting ranks within West Mercia Police and, just like your letter writer (Richard Camp, 6 August 2012), welcome the news that chief officers are now admitting 20 per cent cuts to policing will affect front-line policing.
We represent the constables, sergeants and inspecting ranks within West Mercia Police and, just like your letter writer (Richard Camp, 6 August 2012), welcome the news that chief officers are now admitting 20 per cent cuts to policing will affect front-line policing.
Since August 2010, West Mercia Police has lost 114 officer posts, although to meet the budget cuts the force is keeping posts vacant so we actually have 183 fewer officers than two years ago.
Over the next four years there will be a further 90 posts lost between West Mercia and Warwickshire – the two forces operating in an alliance. It is not yet clear how many of these will be West Mercia officers but I estimate it will be between 60 and 70 as we are the larger force.
As we seek to make savings forced upon us by the Government’s austerity mea sures, there are also likely to be police station closures in the West Mercia area.
Yet, as recently as two weeks ago, police minister Nick Herbert was reportedly saying – when new figures showed police numbers had dropped to a nine-year low – that the service police were giving to the public was ‘largely being maintained’.
How can that be true? The public do not want to see police stations closed and they repeatedly say they want to see more officers on the streets not less.
Police officers are doing everything they can to provide a high quality service for the communities they serve. They run towards danger when others run away and, with other public services being hit by the cuts, are regularly stepping in to pick up the pieces.
This was admirably demonstrated in the run-up to the Olympics when the G4S security shambles unfolded. The police and the Army were drafted in to boost security as the weaknesses of the Government’s privatisation policies were exposed.
But our resources can only be stretched so far. No-one is telling us which parts of the service we shouldn’t provide. Service to the public will suffer, front-line policing will be hit.
The Acting Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary last week admitted his force had cut numbers ‘too hard’ and ‘too fast’. We are not surprised. We predict other chief officers will soon be making similar admissions. Now let’s see if the Government is prepared to admit that it may have got it wrong.
Ken Mackaill. Chairman, West Mercia Police Federation
Comments for: "Letter - Police cuts a concern"
Tony
The last paragraph of this is a contradiction, the Acting CC admitted his force had cut the numbers too hard and fast, and similar comments were expected from other quarters, why then is it the Govts mistake, they may have set the goalposts but in the letter writers own words, the chief officers make and made the decisions.
And before anyone makes any presumptions, I am not a tory voter.
Robert Peel
Tony.. Over 80% of West Mercia's spending is on pay, therefore it is inevitable that cuts will minimise the number of backroom and front line officers. The cuts are imposed by the Government and as stated elsewhere too hard too fast.
Expect the closure of police stations, expect front counter closures, expect delays to non emergency calls but don't blame the Police.
Tony
I was merely pointing out that it was ACPO that had made the decision of how to reduce budgets, and when to do it, the Govt are the ones who have set the targets.
If an effective supervision was in place then the 'back office' jobs could easily be relocated to front line positions, the public only see uniforms therefore with the choice locally to create a much bigger burglary unit has done nothing but reduce the visible side as 'detectives' have an aversion to wearing uniforms unless it is on overtime.Cut the 9am,11am and 3pm tea breaks,and just do with the 45min lunch breaks, patrol officers manage to do it.
You can then look at all the posts where officers are effectively attached to schools,education is the realm of teachers and parents,it is not the place of officers to guide children as to what is right and what is wrong. Local police officers, what do they do apart from appeasing the local councillors by attending council meetings, road safety forum and housing meeting bun-fights.
Sound familiar? It's been going on for years,I've done my time and got the t-shirt and medals.
SteveP
I am 100% behind Mr Mackaill's comments.
The level of cover has been too low in parts of Shropshire for years now and it's getting worse.
It appears to be a good time to consider a change of lifestyle to a life of crime as the odds are getting better every day of avoiding detection.
I am informed that no new positions will be available for the next few years at least! I don't see it as rocket science, just increase the powers of the law to sell the proceeds of crime from convicted criminals - including houses & cars etc and use that money to build a strong law enforcement team.
I recently was the victim of a crime and the Police were fantastic, they caught the offender who admitted to other thefts amounting to sever thousand pounds - his penalty - suspended sentence and £10.00 a month fine!!! He had a car worth £3k why wasn't that taken and sold and the proceeds used to pay for the many hours of police work involved?
Oh and also take money from local authorities who throw £000's away on projects that are no use to anybody (Shrewsbury Music Hall)
To all the hard working Police I send my support - Law and Order is paramount in our society.
Pete
The public demand (and rightly so) a brilliant service from the Police Force. West Mercia are brilliant and these cuts are a concern. Take Wellington Police Station for example, the front desk there is barely open now-a-days thanks to these cuts.
The Police Force's ability to perform a brilliant service is going to diminish and the public will suffer because of it.
Why we can find £5m for terrorists in Syria and yet can't find money for the Police is an insult and mystery.
Mr Whisteblower
West Mercia Police (and the alliance with Warwickshire) needs to review every single police staff post that it has and ask the hard question: do we really need them? West Mercia has nearly as many police staff posts as it does officers (including CSOs)(according to its own figures on its website). This can't be right. Some of these staff aren't required and they need to go. A lot of these people are employed because senior police officers don't have the skills and education that is required to perform senior management roles. And the duplication doesn't stop there. For example, there are police staff dealing with complaints that sergeants and inspectors should be dealing with. That cannot be right. Supervisors should sort out complaints against their staff not police staff. Get rid of them now. Waste of public money.
Look at West Mercia's management structure. How mant managers do you need to run a department? How many superintendents need to tweet about burglaries in a day? Obviously employing too many of them. Open up to direct entry and replace with hard-nosed senior managers who can run budgets and achieve targets.
Also, the public are going to have to learn a hard lesson. There are some things that the police just will not be able to deal with. The police service has been that 'safety-net' service for too long. Crime should be the first priority of the police service. The police service is not a supplementary social service.
Not the same Ex Cop
The reason WMP has so many police staff or 'civvies' as they were called is they used to be cheaper to employ than officers,not so anymore, a police staff member answering the phone and/or imputting data can earn more than a constable.
They are there because there are so many senior managers who are not or have never been police officers,they can talk the talk but not walk the walk, and are experts at creating and protecting empires.
I recall when the unions went out on strike some years ago, officers filled their positions at a rate of 3:1, the jobs were never run so efficiently,probably because the officers can keep their minds on the job in hand without needing to discuss potty training,how their love lives are and what Jessica is wearing and that colour just doesn't suit her.
There will be a throng of ex and current officers sat there smiling and nodding their heads in agreement.
Ex Cop
We have only just seen the start of the cuts, first to go in the cutbacks are Police Officers and Police staff posts, next will be the closure of a large number of Police Stations, with just a handful left across the county.For senior officers and politicians to say that it won't affect front line services is an insult to peoples intelligence
Not the same Ex Cop
I can't see what all the fuss is about officers are the ones that go to collisions, assaults and disorder, police stations stay where they are, the clue is in the word station(ary). It's not like it was years ago,officers now have technology that was almost like something you'd see on Star Trek and do not need to return to their base in between jobs. The wheel is turning again to 'the good old days' where officers when out and wouldn't be seen until refs time and would then disappear again until ten minutes before booking off time.
Mr Whistleblower
This is why West Mercia is having to cut the number of front-line officers. How many superintendents, at a total cost (including National Insurance etc) to the force of over 100K each, does a department need?
Taken from West Mercia's website, Force Structure. Gravy train in full action.
Protective Services
Head of Department - Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Rowsell
Major Crime - Detective Superintendent Sheila Thornes
Intelligence - Detective Superintendent Mark Travis
Public Protection - Detective Superintendent Martin Lakeman
Specialist Crime - Detective Superintendent Daryn Elton
Force Operations - Superintendent Lee Davenport
Forensic Services - Tristram Elmhirst