Good policing is not a political numbers game

The HMIC report ‘Policing in Austerity, One Year On’ published yesterday rightly commends Northumbria Police, its officers and staff for the sacrifices that have been made due to the austerity measures required.  Despite facing significant cuts in funding, Northumbria has still managed to reduce crime by 8.2% and anti social behaviour by 3%. 

80% of the police budget is spent on salaries and understandably Northumbria is looking to make savings through natural wastage in police officer and police staff numbers over the next 3 years.  However it is important to stress that due to greater efficiency the proportion of frontline officers will not decrease as dramatically as HMIC predicted nor as the press speculated yesterday.  Due to sound management and greater efficencies Northumbria will actually increase its proportion of front line officers over the next 3 years from 84% to 91%, which will mean Northumbria having a greater percentage of officers in front, line roles more than many other police forces.  In fact Northumbria will soon be recruiting another 40 police officers paid for directly by savings that have already been made.

This is really not a political issue.  No matter who was in government, the Coalition or Labour cuts would have to be made. As Ministers from both parties have identified in the past, it’s not the numbers of police officers you have, it’s what you do with them that counts. 

The key is cutting down costs and scrapping bureaucracy saving thousands of pounds and saving valuable police officer hours.

We currently have about 3900 police officers, which is about 900 more than we had in 2008, plus over 400 Community Support Officers and over 1500 support staff.  Year on year reductions in crime proves that Northumbria is still punching above its weight. 

The challenge for Police and Crime Commissioners will be one of listening to the needs of the community, identifying priorities and sustaining performance whilst increasing efficiency.   PCC’s need to do be able to do this whilst ensuring that Chief Constables continue to get the resources and the tools they need to do the job.