“Cuts to policing are putting police officer lives at risk”

THE police minister has been asked to remember his “moral obligation” in protecting constables from harm, as officer numbers rapidly decrease.

Damian Green was warned by Police Federation Constables’ Central Committee chairman Will Riches (pictured) that “in the simplest terms, the wholesale reduction in police officer numbers puts lives at risk”. Police officer numbers are being “stripped to the bone”, he said.

He added: “The exodus of experience through retirement and redundancy has left major gaps that will inevitably compromise our resilience.”

He told Mr Green that officers needed to have access to back-up when they needed it. “Please remember the moral obligation you have to protect the safety of the officers who are out there doing the policing and keeping this country safe,” he said.

Mr Green said he appreciated the “huge difficulties and challenges and pressures that every police officer faces” and said he was trying to “sweep away” any obstacles preventing officers doing their jobs efficiently.

Mr Riches also warned that the reforms to pay and conditions would prevent retention of the service’s best police constables. “What we will get is a few good years through these difficult economic times before our brightest and best go off elsewhere to earn a decent living, where there are no risks to their safety and they can comfortably provide for their family,” he said.

Later in the day, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also raised concerns about cuts in the police service. Some officers cannot make arrests because there are too few officers on the street and they know that it will take them off the streets for too long, she said.

Other officers have had to write to local businesses and residents to raise money for a car to get them to the job. Some officers, she said, were relying on lifts from colleagues or having to use a pool car, public transport or walking up to ten miles to reach a job.

“Doesn’t look much like the 21st century does it?” she said. “Officers thumbing a lift down a dual carriageway just to get to a crime.”

An emergency motion from West Midlands Police Federation calling for a vote of no confidence in PFEW chairman Steve Williams was opposed. After a number of representatives urged for a focus on more important issues, 120 voted in favour of the motion, 168 against and 15 abstained.