Police Numbers Matter: More officers needed to drive down crime

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MORE Bobbies are needed in local policing teams if forces are to drive down crime, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

Violent offences have increased sharply, recent figures have shown, with knife crime soaring to its highest level ever.

The number of offences involving a knife or sharp weapon rose by six per cent to 46,265, according to the Office for National Statistics covering the pre-lockdown period of January to the end of March.

Steve Kent, South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman, called for more officers and more investment in local policing to reverse the trend.

He said: “As a force we reversed cuts to local policing and we’re starting to see the results of local policing teams being able to deal with the root causes of issues. That needs to grow massively. As well as our response teams jumping from job to job, we need that sort of investment in each area to try and deal with the problems because we need to get to the root cause, rather than just focusing on the end result. It is about prevention rather than cure.”

Steve used Glasgow as an example, where early interventions by police officers and other agencies has helped drive down youth crime. He welcomed the recent uplift to policing, which has seen 20,000 new officers recruited nationwide, but said better pay long term would retain them.

He added: “We’ve got the initial surge in recruits who have wanted to join the police for a long time – and they were obviously fighting to get through the door – but there is a concern in our force and from colleagues I spoke to across the country, that that is going to dry up very quickly. It’s like chucking a bucket of water at it rather than having a steady stream.

“We need to make this job still appealing to people to come in. Otherwise, this is just remedial work, rather than progress. If it dries up way too early and then we’re left in a position where we’re no better off than where we were before, with demand still going through the roof.”