Policing is \u201cthreadbare\u201d and struggling with funds and resources, South Yorkshire Police Federation said, after a new report identified \u201cwidespread systemic failings\u201d in the service.<\/p>\n
His Majesty\u2019s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andy Cooke, published his first annual assessment of policing in England and Wales, \u2018The State of Policing\u2019, on 9 June. In it he says that the police service is at a \u201chistoric turning point\u201d and that major reform is needed, including new powers for Inspectors.<\/p>\n
He also said that the police needed to prioritise issues that mattered most to the public; that forces needed to concentrate on effective neighbourhood policing; and that critical elements of the police service\u2019s leadership and workforce arrangements needed substantial reform.<\/p>\n
But this can\u2019t happen without access to the right funds and resources, the Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Steve Kent said: \u201cThe problem is that policing is still threadbare and when we look at South Yorkshire Police, we are one of the poorest-funded forces in the country because of the precept [how much council tax is spent on policing].<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat that means is that we are struggling to do so much more with so much less. We just don\u2019t have the pool of resources and we don\u2019t have the financial flexibility to actually do what the public expects of us. We are constantly on the red line as an organisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd make no mistake about it, everybody throughout the force is working their socks off and that\u2019s been reflected in our HMIC grading \u2013 considering how poor we are as a force, it is staggering that we\u2019re in the top 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there has got to be a massive culture change in police resources, because policing is slowly grinding to a halt. It\u2019s almost like an engine that\u2019s starved of oil. We\u2019re alright, we keep going a bit, we keep going an extra mile, an extra couple of miles. Sooner or later it\u2019ll stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you couple that with people potentially leaving policing, you\u2019ve got a massive crisis coming in policing.\u201d<\/p>\n