GP Taylor: A criminal way to protect the nation

After arresting a youth, a special constable and myself were set upon by a large group of men who wanted to liberate the youth from the back of my police car. Within seconds, we were under a sustained attack by the mob.

The special constable was beaten to the ground and I was being punched and kicked. I radioed for urgent assistance and heard the dreaded reply that the nearest back-up was 20 minutes away.

I knew that the only way I would survive was by staying on my feet and for what seemed like an eternity I traded blow for blow with the mob. I was heavily outnumbered but myself and the badly injured special fought on. Many minutes later a traffic officer arrived and we were saved.

That incident happened at a time when the numbers of police officers on the beat was at an all-time high. The Miners’ Strike had taught the Government that there had to be police officers on the ground to keep the country safe and respond to incidents properly.

Still, in many rural areas of Yorkshire, there were sometimes no officers available to respond to calls. Some small towns and villages were being protected by a handful of officers stationed many miles away. The thin blue line was stretched so thin that it was non-existent.

Over the years I have seen constables replaced by support officers and fewer officers on the beat. Crime figures appear to be regularly massaged and the goalposts on what actually constitutes a crime moved further apart.

Officers have even been grounded from driving their cars in order to save the mileage on leased vehicles and petrol costs. Static patrolling never solved crime and policing on a shoestring costs lives.

It is therefore a travesty to see that George Osborne is considering cutting even more money from the already overstretched police budgets ahead of today’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review. This isn’t something new. The police service is seen by Government as an easy target. Cuts to budget are thought not to directly affect the voting public, and looming large in Osborne’s mind will always be the possibility of a privatised police force.

Since 2010, the jobs of one third of PCSOs have been cut. These jobs were supposedly created to help proper police officers do their work more effectively. In reality, they became the visible face of policing in most towns.

The trade union Unison says that more than 4,500 PCSO jobs had been cut over the past five years, with fears of fresh reductions today. Many police forces believe more cuts will have “catastrophic” consequences for the PCSO workforce and neighbourhood policing. In one force 535 PCSOs have been cut to 119.

I fully expect Mr Osborne to announce cuts of 20 per cent to police budgets. This will be totally disastrous for the safety of the nation. It is an open invitation for criminals and terrorists to go about their business freely and without fear of detection. It could also mean that some of our major cities like Leeds and Bradford are putting out a handful of officers each night-shift to protect the public. It will lead to events where 999 operators will be telling victims of crime that there is no- one to come and save them.

When I was a young copper in Northallerton, I went to arrest a man on warrant and he put a gun to my head. I managed to get away from him as he locked himself in his house. I called for armed back-up and was told that it wasn’t available and that I should “contain the property” until help arrived.

The only protection I had was a copy of the Yellow Pages stuffed down my jumper and an old man with a Jack Russell and a walking stick who came to help me.

Mr Osborne doesn’t need to make the cuts. He is making them so the Treasury can run a projected surplus of £10bn by the end of the Parliament. All this codswallop about mending the roof while the sun shines is a cover-up for the real reason of him building a war chest that can be raided for tax cuts and spending increases in advance of the 2020 election.

God forbid that we have a Paris-style attack here after Mr Osborne has cut the police budget to the bone. Three bobbies, a middle-aged PCSO and a bicycle are no use against jihadists with Kalashnikovs. It’s up to you, George, and your conscience.

GP Taylor is a writer and broadcaster and can be followed @GPTaylorauthor.