Our streets, our communities, and our families are safer than they have ever been, according to the Home Secretary.
In a speech to the Superintendents’ Association annual conference, Theresa May said public satisfaction is up, not down and claimed officers are more likely to be out on the front-line tackling crime than at any time in the modern history of policing.
Mrs May’s speech reiterated many of the messages in her address to the Police Federation conference in May this year.
“In 2010, as we approached a Spending Review, I was told that police budgets couldn’t be cut. Academics insisted that crime would rocket. Chief constables told me that public safety would be put at risk and public confidence undermined. The Opposition warned of a “Perfect Storm”. The Police Federation warned of “Christmas for criminals”. None of that has happened,” she told superintendents.
“In recent weeks, as we approach this Spending Review, I have heard this generation of police leaders succumb to the same temptation. I have heard that policing is “on the edge” from senior chief constables. That budget cuts will mean the police no longer fulfilling essential functions. And I have heard suggestions that spending cuts could lead to variations in the level of service and a loss in public confidence.
“I am afraid to say that these claims are no different to the calls I heard in 2010, and they serve neither the public, nor the police officers and staff you lead.”
The Home Secretary said budgets will fall further, pledging savings would be made and this would likely mean fewer police officers.
“We must have a grown-up, frank conversation about what is possible, what is necessary, and – most important of all – where we can make policing better for the public and for the officers and staff who fight crime on our behalf every day and night,” the conference was told.
“I hope you will work with me, with your police and crime commissioners, and with each other, to make savings where they are possible, to think intelligently about how to deploy the skills and capability – not just the manpower – under your command, and to propose new ways that the police can do things better and more cheaply.
“We all know the difficult choices that lie ahead. But it can be done. At the end of it, if we work together, policing can be more effective, more responsive and more efficient than it has ever been before.”
Key themes of the speech were the importance of reform, what the Government had achieved, targets and reducing bureaucracy, freeing up police time, technology and reducing demand, skills and training, and efficiency and collaboration.
Click here to read the speech in full.
