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Blunkett warns of front-line policing nightmare
YORKSHIRE has the fastest-shrinking police service in the country, shedding almost 600 officers in only two years.
All four forces in the county have recorded a fall in numbers since March 2008, with one seeing a decline of over eight per cent.
Yorkshire forces lost 223 officers between them – equivalent to 1.8 per cent of their combined strength.
It is the sharpest drop in percentage terms of any region in England and Wales, and comes after Yorkshire lost 371 officers in 2008-09.
Police chiefs said most of the departing officers were not on front-line duty and their roles had been filled by civilians.
But rank-and-file officers fear the reductions will make forces less able to deal with major incidents, and a former Home Secretary claimed future budget cuts would "bring devastation to policing on our streets".
South Yorkshire Police shed 101 officers last year, while West Yorkshire lost 96 and Humberside 53. North Yorkshire saw an increase of 26.
The figures were published yesterday by the Home Office, two days after reports by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Audit Commission showed that just one in 10 officers were available to help the public at any one time.
David Blunkett, the Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough and former Home Secretary, said: "I very much regret the drop in police numbers with the prioritisation on an increased budget.
"However, the real issue is the horrendous cuts in the current financial year and which are projected for the three years ahead – which the recent HMIC/ Audit Commission analysis rightly fears will bring devastation to policing on our streets.
"If we are worried about what has happened over the last year, then we should be mortified at what is about to hit us."
The region's constabularies, braced for cuts of up to 50m over the next three years, commissioned consultants at Deloitte to find ways of saving money by pooling resources. Their report, which cost 325,000, recommended cutting jobs by regionalising specialist police units and "back-office" departments. It also suggested having just two 999 call centres for the whole region.
West Yorkshire Police Federation chairman Sergeant Michael Downes said it was better to have officers working in back-office departments rather than civilians because they could be deployed if needed.
He added: "It is inevitable that a reduction in numbers will increase what is an already excessive workload for police officers and, more importantly, undermine the resilience of a police force to respond to critical incidents."
West Yorkshire Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison said: "It is meaningless to measure the strength or quality of service provided by a police force simply by counting the number of police officers it employs.
"We all know that we are facing a challenging financial future across the whole public sector and it will not be helpful for police officer numbers to be used as a political football and as the only yardstick to judge the service."
A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said most of its departing officers in 2009-10 had retired with 30 years' service. It had recruited 83 officers since April 1 and planned to enlist a further 32 soon.
A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said its emergency response was "in no way diminished" by the changes in officer numbers.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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