Police 'will be forced to lose officers'

Police forces accept that they will have to lose officers as part of the Government's austerity drive, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers has said.

But Sir Hugh Orde said that in order to maintain front-line policing, officers must be released from some of the constraints imposed by legislation over recent years, and given more freedom to use their own discretion in response to incidents – even if things go wrong.

He welcomed indications from Home Secretary Theresa May that she is ready to end anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) and 24-hour drinking.

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Sir Hugh said that round-the-clock licensing was a "mistake", while Asbos had been "a mixed bag" which worked in some cases, but not in others.

He repeated his insistence that reforms planned by Ms May must not impinge on operational independence, and said chief constables would have to "work very closely" with new elected commissioners to ensure that they do not pursue a populist agenda.

A recent report claimed only one out of every 10 police officers is available at any time to tackle crime. But Sir Hugh pointed out that officers classed as not on the beat included murder squads, anti-terror and organised crime units, as well as traffic police.