Chair: Boost police funding and invest in police officers

THE next Government needs to invest in policing and increase the number of officers across the country, the Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

There are now 2,460 police officers in South Yorkshire – that’s 77 fewer than this time last year. In 2009, there were 3,053 police officers in the region.

And Zuleika Payne has called for whoever comes to power after the General Election on 8 June to boost this.

She said: “It’s absolutely vital that whoever is in power recognises the need for investment to be made in policing, and increase the number of police officers.

“Over recent years we’ve seen a national fall in policing numbers. It is grossly unfair that our local communities suffer as a result of making those cuts.

“It’s absolutely crucial that whoever wins this next election makes an investment in the police service so that citizens actually get a police service that they deserve. It is key for the health and wellbeing of society.”

Across England and Wales, there are now 122,859 police officers – 21,494 fewer officers than in 2009 and a 2,715 fall since last year.

Zuleika added: “Officers don’t feel valued and ultimately when you shave officer numbers, that not only impacts upon service delivery but it also impacts upon the welfare of those officers who remain because fewer officers have to absorb more work.

“The remaining officers become exhausted, some have to take a period of time away from the workplace with sickness absence and we end up with a vicious circle.

“Ultimately what this does is have a detrimental effect on the welfare and efficiency of the officers, and the welfare and efficiency of those individual police organisations. Worryingly, because we no longer have the officer numbers that we once saw, this raises increased concerns around officer safety.”