FURTHER Government cuts to policing could see South Yorkshire Police officer numbers shrink by a quarter overall between 2007 and 2015, the federation has warned.<\/p>\n
The force has saved \u00a330m since 2011 and needs to cut another \u00a315m by the end of March 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have more government budget cuts then, unless there are drastic increases in local taxes, I can see officer numbers fall to 2,500 or worse,\u201d said Neil Bowles, chairman of the South Yorkshire Police Federation.<\/p>\n
The Government\u2019s Budget announcement last month suggested that the police service faces a further one per cent cut for 2014\/15.<\/p>\n
Chief Constable David Crompton has warned that extra budget cuts could mean fewer officer posts.<\/p>\n
Mr Bowles said officer numbers have already fallen from 3,300 to 2,780 since 2007, with police staff posts disappearing at the same rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp to now the country has enjoyed the lowest crime rates in a generation, but we are seeing the tide turn – acquisitive crime, burglary, thefts and auto crimes are on the rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is evidence that officers cannot ensure their own safety now, so what’s it going to be like with even lower numbers to support each other? How can we keep the public safe? The public needs to decide what they want the police to stop doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Bowles called for a Royal Commission into the whole of policing rather than \u201cmeddling politicians making knee-jerk reactions to every newspaper headline\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe PFEW has been asking for this for over a decade, if it had been carried out then, we would not be in this mess now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Crompton said South Yorkshire Police had \u201cnot made any specific decisions yet to completely stop things\u201d but added that some things \u201cmay be done to a lower standard or less often or by less people in order to save money\u201d.<\/p>\n
As well as cutting jobs, Mr Crompton is looking at selling more buildings, merging units and reducing overtime.<\/p>\n
Shaun Wright, South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, said he believed the Government was taking \u201can irresponsible gamble with public safety by imposing further cuts\u201d.<\/p>\n
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