Proper Investment Needed In Community Policing

12 February 2024

The Government has urged Chief Constables to restore community policing, but officers are “stretched beyond capacity”, Norfolk Police Federation has said.

In his first meeting with the National Policing Board, Home Secretary James Cleverly asked police chiefs to keep officers within local communities in a drive to “get back to core policing” and restore public trust.

Norfolk Police Federation Chair Andy Symonds said that officers wanted to provide the “gold standard” to communities and victims, but they were so under-resourced that they had “one hand tied behind their backs”.

Andy said: “The officers I represent here in Norfolk are doing everything they can when it comes to policing their communities. They are stretched beyond capacity and are fed up with soundbites from politicians.

“Officers are trying their best for victims of crime, but we have one hand tied behind our backs. We are currently society’s sticking plaster for all of its ills.

“Officers no longer get to concentrate on investigating and preventing crime. We are busy policing demonstrations; going to other forces on mutual aid to help support their operations; and policing football matches, concerts and many other events, particularly during the summer.

“We deploy to help find missing people, who are either missing from home, care homes, or hospitals. We respond to people who are in mental health crisis, and we’re often sitting in hospitals while we wait for a mental health assessment for those people.

“This is all on top of the many hundreds of calls we get every day reporting crimes and other matters. So you can see that if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority. If this Government is serious about supporting policing, it must put its money where its mouth is and invest in policing properly. Only then can we do everything we want to do for our communities and provide the gold standard that all victims deserve.”