POLICE\u00a0constables are dealing with 16 more crimes each than they were five years ago, the Collect of Policing has said.<\/p>\n
There were on average 35 crimes for every PC in 2013\/14 compared with 51 crimes per officer today. The data, provided to the BBC at the beginning of the month, suggested that in the last five years overall police workload has increased by 45%.<\/p>\n
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The increase is more than evident on the front line, according to South Yorkshire Police Federation Chairman Steve Kent who has just moved from a response team.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe difference in demand is noticeable. The demand that I\u2019ve seen personally has gone up through the roof but that is because cops are expected to do more with less and that\u2019s the reason why I think we\u2019re seeing this spike.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s got to be a change in direction from central government, and it\u2019s got to be done soon. That\u2019s the only way we\u2019re going to tackle this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve said the increase may be in part due to a change in recording practices, but he blamed the \u201chuge funding gap\u201d seen in policing. Funding for forces is down by nearly a fifth since 2010\/11 and there are nearly a fifth fewer officers and staff.<\/p>\n
And Shadow Policing Minister and Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh has said that \u201cyears of cuts to pay and other resources have led to damaged police morale, a loss of 2,000 officers in South Yorkshire and contributed to the recent rise in violent crime which has claimed lives in Sheffield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steve added: \u201cWe need to properly reintroduce neighbourhood policing. We need to be properly funded for the community work. We\u2019ve got to start from the grassroots up and repair the damage that has been done over the last decade.\u201d<\/p>\n