Fears ‘lives will be put on the line’ by police staff cuts

By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter

There are fears Gloucestershire Constabulary’s plans to cut 60 police staff will “undermine efforts to re-establish neighbourhood policing”.

The force announced this week its plans to plug the £12.3m gap in their finances which will result in the loss of around 30 to 40 police community support officers (PCSOs).

Part of their cost saving proposals will see the mounted unit transferred to West Midlands Police.

But union representatives fear the cuts will pile more pressure and extra work on the remaining staff.

Gloucestershire Police UNISON branch secretary Dawn Eccles said: “Police staff, including police and community support officers, play a vital role in keeping communities safe. But they’re already stretched to their limits.

“These cuts would pile more pressure and extra work on any remaining staff, putting residents’ safety and even lives on the line.

“Any reduction in roles will also undermine efforts to re-establish neighbourhood policing and the visible presence of officers on streets, which is so important in reassuring the public.

“The union will support any workers who’re affected. Ministers must also work with the force to ensure it has the funding required to avoid such drastic cuts.”

Gloucestershire police chiefs have stressed that the reduction in police staff will not lead to a drop in performance.

They are rolling out a rapid improvement plan in part over the next 12 months and they say the number of actual officers in rural and neighbourhood policing will be increased.

Temporary Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said this week their vision is that all crime will be investigated, and that their ensure we use police powers to be relentless in pursuit of perpetrators.

“We want to protect all our communities so they feel safer,” she said.

“From April we’ll be investing in additional police officers across the county, in both urban and rural areas, and we’ll be reducing the numbers of PCSOs.

“Police officers have powers to detain people and are trained to deal with a range of challenging situations so, in having more on the streets of Gloucestershire, we can respond to and investigate crimes that people are most affected by.

“Community engagement remains a vital part of Neighbourhood Policing. The significant number of PCSOs we’ll be retaining will be integral to this as a valuable link with residents, businesses and other partners.

“Having the right resources in the right place is crucial if we are to improve our services, so we are also transferring some police officers into our crime command to help our investigative capability, and to focus on neighbourhood crime, and public protection services – our child protection teams in particular.”

Gloucester News Centre – http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk