JUST one in five people said they see enough bobbies on the beat, according to the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales.<\/p>\n
It found that 22% of people said they feel officers are highly visible \u2013 a figure that has nearly halved since 39% who answered the same question in 2011.<\/p>\n
Zuleika Payne, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said this could damage public confidence in policing.<\/p>\n
The percentage of the public who said they \u201cnever\u201d see police foot patrols has risen by more than half between 2011 and 2016 \u2013 from 25% to 39%.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the dwindling officer numbers, there will be that loss and lack of confidence,\u201d said Zuleika.<\/p>\n
The organisation has tried to address this in the past. For example we went through a period of marking our plain, unmarked vehicles which some people found quite a bizarre notion to work with, there is a reason why we have plain cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was an attempt to increase visibility so that we could give an impression of a greater Police presence, many felt it was just smoke and mirrors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also have the Community Support Officers, and we previously had recruiting campaigns for the Special Constabulary to try and raise the profile and give the impression of an enhanced, visible presence. But sadly not all of that has been successful because of an issue around sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police currently has fewer than 2,500 police officers \u2013 which is down 1,100 on where it used to be.<\/p>\n
There are 2,493 fewer Special Constables in England and Wales than there were this time last year, figures published from the Government show.<\/p>\n