Government urged to invest in policing

6 November 2022

Derbyshire Police Federation chair Tony Wetton has called for more officers to help tackle crime and says a return to austerity would be devastating for policing and communities.

Tony urged the Government to invest in policing to drive down crime amid speculation of potential cuts to public services.

He was speaking after new figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed crime in Derbyshire rose by eight per cent in the 12 months to June.

The figure is below the national average, with police recorded crime in England and Wales rising by 13 per cent on the previous year.

The ONS figures showed that in Derbyshire sexual offences rose by 20 per cent, violence against the person was up by 11 per cent, and robbery by six per cent, while theft offences rose by seven per cent and vehicle offences by 10 per cent.

On the positive side, knife crime fell eight per cent on the previous year, burglary was down by eight per cent with residential burglary falling by 13 per cent, and drug offences were down by 17 per cent.

Tony said: “While it’s disappointing to see crime as a whole rising, these new figures are comparing a period when the country was under lockdowns and social restrictions so it was perhaps to be expected.

“Having said that, the hard work, commitment and dedication of our members has led to some huge successes – particularly around knife crime and burglary – and we’ve not seen the increase in crime that other parts of the country have.

“In order to continue that great work and to make inroads into other areas of crime, we need more officers and we need investment in policing.

“We’re pleased the Government is restoring the number of officers to pre-austerity levels through its Uplift Programme but we need more officers to keep pace with a growing population, and we need investment in them, their pay and conditions to ensure we retain them.

“What we don’t need is talk of austerity 2.0. We’ve lived through one set of austerity measures and they ripped the heart out of policing, a second set would be devastating for the police and our communities.”