VOLUNTEERS from local businesses in the northeast will be given police powers to deal with low-level crime in a move towards the privatisation of policing, one federation warned.<\/p>\n
Paul Yeomans, Chairman of Humberside Police Federation, said the force\u2019s new Community Safety Accreditation Scheme was \u201ccrossing the line into volunteers backfilling the roles of police officer\u201d.<\/p>\n
The new scheme\u00a0empowers volunteers to issue penalty notices, tackle anti-social behaviour, and confiscate cigarettes and alcohol from people underage.<\/p>\n
The Home Office is currently undergoing a review of the way chief police officers designate powers to police staff and volunteers in a bid to enable non-sworn officers to take on greater roles. The Police Federation has warned that the Office of Constable could be undermined as a result.<\/p>\n
Mr Yeomans told his Federation\u2019s annual open meeting: \u201cWe welcome collaboration with other agencies, but not at the expense of further cuts to police officer numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a fact that the police service simply cannot maintain the level of service to the public that it once did and the public at large deserve and indeed have a right to be aware of the facts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe message to the public is quite simply \u2018you don’t know what you have got until it’s gone\u2019. The first priority of Government is to protect and safeguard its citizens. How can they fulfil this obligation when they continue to systematically dismantle the police service?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Yeomans issued a \u201chealth warning\u201d to the Government at the meeting.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cCuts do have consequences. With less you get less. Now that\u2019s a fact. Forces, including ours, are going to have to make choices in the near future as to what type of policing we are going to be able to provide to the public and what we are not.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we continue to provide response policing as well as neighbourhood policing, or is the ‘Bobby on the Beat’ to become a thing of the past? I suggest we won’t be able to provide both.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you continue with these draconian cuts to policing, crime will without question continue to rise. The public, who are your first priority to protect, will undoubtedly suffer. And police forces will cease to be able to operate effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n