A NEW round of public spending cuts will mean a loss of at least 34,000 police jobs within three years, chief officers have predicted.<\/p>\n
Sir Hugh Orde, president of ACPO, has warned that further 20 per cent cuts from the Home Office would inflict even more damage on frontline policing than has been seen since 2010. ACPO estimates 34,000 out of 205,000 police jobs will disappear over the next three years.<\/p>\n
Sir Hugh has warned of serious repercussions for the role of police in safeguarding society\u2019s most vulnerable people.<\/p>\n
ACPO\u2019s predictions are based on a grant reduction recommendation by Her Majesty\u2019s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).<\/p>\n
However, senior Home Office officials have reportedly revealed that the police should expect a deeper 25 per cent cut in government funding after the next general election.<\/p>\n
The number of police officers has already fallen by 16,000, from 141,600 in 2010 to 125,400 in March this year.<\/p>\n
The service is expected to have lost a total of 34,000 officers and staff by March next year \u2013 with the same number of job losses predicted for the next round of cuts.<\/p>\n
Neil Bowles, chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: \u201cIt is absolutely shocking. The public are going to be in extreme danger if that occurs. We just cannot cope – even if we do merge into nine\u00a0separate forces [as recommended by Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe in December 2014].<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not the number of forces, it is the number of officers that matters. If we lose all those officers and staff it could be the end of policing by consent as we know it. There will be no community policing, no neighbourhoods, no crime prevention work. All you will see is officers using enforcement powers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Hugh told Jack Dromey, Labour\u2019s shadow police minister, that the 34,000 job losses predicted would rise \u201cexponentially\u201d if the cuts imposed were\u00a0to increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact, however, in our view would be far greater on the frontline, which up to now forces have been trying to protect,\u201d he said. \u201cA greater number of officer posts would be involved and this could potentially have serious implications for statutory responsibilities and the safeguarding of the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Home Secretary Theresa May has said that the integration of police, fire and ambulance emergency services and the widespread use of body-worn cameras and smartphone apps by police officers would be needed to save time and money.<\/p>\n
Mr Dromey said the cuts would mark the biggest made to any police service in Europe. A generation of progress in cutting crime is being reversed, with response times to 999 calls now 30 per cent longer, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch savage cuts come at the worst possible time just when the demands on our police service mount by the day, from tackling child sex exploitation, through combating soaring fraud and online crime to the threats to our national security,\u201d said Mr Dromey.<\/p>\n
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