Cuts Force Officers To Screen Low-Level Crimes

NEARLY a decade of cuts to policing is coming home to roost as forces across England and Wales are forced to triage the types of crime they can investigate.

South Yorkshire Police Federation says it is screening crime, mirroring the tactics deployed by Greater Manchester Police as it tries to juggle resources and demand.

GMP Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said around 600 low-level crime incidents every day were not being investigated, simply because there are not enough officers to cope with demand.

And South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said less-serious offences are being screened.

He said: “We do have to sometimes screen and file the less serious offences and we have to prioritise incidents and crimes that involve threat, harm and risk.

“And it does sometimes leave the low-level thefts and the low-level criminal damage cases being put to one side.

“The disappointing thing, from a police officer’s point of view, is that even though they’re not as serious in terms of what they are, they’re still serious to the victim.

“We’re having to neglect that a little bit, to focus on the things that are going to protect people’s actual lives and prevent severe offences against them.

“This is an inevitability in the cuts. We must prioritise. We don’t have the resources to treat everything as we used to do.

“I know from my personal experience when we go to the low-level stuff; we sometimes get negativity from the public because they’re saying, ‘look, I’ve called you so many times, I was on hold for so long’.

“Don’t get me wrong; they understand the situation we’re in. But the public is frustrated. So the frontline is getting it in the neck from the public for what, essentially, is a central Government funding decision.”

Around 10% of the South Yorkshire frontline force strength was lost from 2015 to 2018, although a recruitment drive is now in place to replete the ranks, thanks to a local Council Tax precept increase.

Steve added: “We’re actively recruiting and to be fair to the Chief, he’s trying to get the numbers addressed. Credit to him, he’s doing a cracking job in trying to get those numbers back up.

“We are moving in the right direction, as quickly as we can. But it could do with being quicker, and we could do with returning to the numbers, ideally, to what we had before the cuts and austerity.”