Police anger

Concerns about the impact of cuts in Government spending on public services are now beginning to crystallise as their full extent is revealed.

Police forces face among the most difficult tasks in balancing protection of the public with the need to enforce swingeing cuts which are bound to affect the way they deal with crime and criminals.

Recent years have seen significant success in tackling crime – latest figures for the year to June show overall crime fell by eight per cent – and it must be frustrating for police chiefs and rank-and-file officers that they now see cuts putting their hard work at risk.

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Alongside this, they also see a new Government promising radical reforms of policing, including an eccentric plan for elected police commissioners, which they feel are being introduced without input from officers used to dealing with the reality of life on the frontline. Humberside Chief Constable Tim Hollis's outburst claiming the coalition "do not trust" police officers is a robust reflection of that anger.

His force has improved significantly in recent years – although critics would no doubt point out it had plenty to improve upon – and now it faces more upheaval like others up and down the country.

His remarks will be supported by fellow officers but the reality for Mr Hollis as a public servant is that he must make changes, however reluctantly and however difficult they are.

Nevertheless, that does not mean that Ministers should ignore his complaints.

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As in the health service and local government, the coalition is attempting major reforms at the same time as demanding huge cuts. Unless it listens to the experts, there is a risk it could end up achieving neither.

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