‘Government must support us if we are to beat rise in crime’

24 July 2018

The Government must give the police service the extra funding it needs to restore officer numbers and tackle an alarming rise in crime, according to Leicestershire Police Federation’s chair.

Tiff Lynch was speaking after new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed:

• a 30 per cent increase in robberies
• a 16 per cent rise in knife crime
• a 12 per cent increase in murders*, and
• a 2 per cent rise in firearms offences.

The new figures, which cover the year until the end of March this year, were published on Thursday when the Home Office also revealed a further drop in police officer numbers with the total number in England and Wales falling by 738 to 122,404, the lowest since 1996.

“Once again, we have solid evidence that the Federation was not scaremongering or crying wolf when it said that cuts to police funding would have consequences,” says Tiff, “There is no doubt in my mind – nor indeed in any other police officers' minds – that a reduction in our numbers had led to an increase in crime.

 “The new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, told the Federation he was listening when he came to our conference in May. Now let’s hope that he is starting to take action. We need to see an increase in our funding so we can get back to providing our communities with the policing service they deserve. We need to have the resources to fight this rise in crime and protect the public.”

 Tiff’s comments are in line with those of the Federation’s vice-chair, Ché Donald, who said: “These new figures are proof, as if we even needed it, that policing in the UK is on the critical list.”

 He added: “You would think that every time we have the same conversations about rising crime, particularly violent crime, it would be a wake-up call for the Government. But instead it just feels like we are sleepwalking into a nightmare.”
 
* Murder figures do not include the London and Manchester terror attacks.