Police Reduced To ‘Fighting Fires’

POLICE officers want to do the best job they can, but cuts to resources mean they’re often only able to “fight fires”.

A report by HMICFRS said victims had given up reporting some crimes because the public has “rumbled” that the police do not have the capacity to investigate.

It concludes that members of the public are losing faith in the criminal justice system because the chances of offenders being brought to justice are so slim: a suspect was charged in just 7.8% of recorded crimes last year in England and Wales, down from 9.1% the year before.

The report author, HM Inspector Matt Parr, said: “I think particularly in the volume crime area, the public has rumbled that the police capacity to deal with this is extremely limited.”

But South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent said the police service had been ‘decimated’ by cuts in the past two years.

He added: “Officers want to do their very best to help members of the public but they’re functioning as, essentially, firefighters. All they’re doing is rushing from job to job to put out the fire, so to speak, or to deal with the crime.

“They never get the chance to step back and give every incident the attention it needs, because the demands on them are unprecedented and they’re being pulled from pillar to post.

“You can’t take the wheels away from a Formula 1 car and expect it to win a race. And so to then turn around and blame the cops who are left trying to keep our heads above water, is absolutely appalling.”