Federation Chair: “We need to get the public on side”

PUBLIC confidence in the police has been “severely dented” as police forces have to reprioritise work in response to funding cuts, the Commons Public Accounts Committee found this month.

The report said the Home Office does not understand the demands being faced by the police service and called for an overhaul of the funding formula – the method by which the amount of money police forces receive from central government is calculated – as a matter of urgency.

The public are starting to ask questions about the funding problem, which has been dubbed “a national scandal” by the Police Federation of England and Wales, and are calling for a return to neighborhood policing, Steve Kent said.

The South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman said: “The majority of public know the situation and are supportive. I’ve noticed that the public and the media are noting the increase in crime through recent events in London and in Sheffield and the reduction of policing, and they’re actually starting to ask questions.

“As a police service nationally we have to communicate with the public and be transparent about what we can do and to an extent manage expectations. I know that we as a force, for example, recently released statistics regards costs and staffing of police at football matches. This showed communities and the public in quite plain English that this is actually one of the reasons why we’re struggling, because we’re having to put so many resources into the football and the football matches around Sheffield, particularly around the derbies.”

As members of the public gain a greater understanding about police funding problems, they are more likely to put pressure on their MPs as well as manage their own expectations of the police, Steve said.

He added: “We need to get the public on side and to appreciate the situation we’re in. That’s happened hasn’t it? Look at the stuff that’s happening in London, the public outcry about it.”