HMICFRS report reaction from Federation Chair: “The police have not given up. Public confidence in Surrey remains high and the officers are doing their absolute best.”

7 February 2020

“The previous Government was warned of consequences of the cuts by the Federation numerous times.”

#CutsHaveConsequences

Mel Warnes, Chair of Surrey Police Federation, reacts to HMIC report “Noticeable differences between police and the service they provide” which has led to headlines this morning such as “Failing police 'rumbled' by weary public” and “Crimes not reported' as public lose confidence in police”

Mel said: “The police service have suffered years of austerity. Demand has increased, in particular with historic complex crimes and cyber crimes.

“Police have had to make difficult decisions on what to deal with, when.

“The previous Government was warned of consequences of the cuts by the Federation numerous times.

“The police have not given up. Public confidence in Surrey remains high and the officers are doing their absolute best.”

See the full HMICFRS report here https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/news/news-feed/noticeable-differences-between-police-and-the-service-they-provide/

In the report, HMIC Matt Parr said the public had "rumbled" that the police do not have the capacity to deal with common crimes, such as burglaries or car crime, and have given up reporting incidents to police.

"I think particularly in the volume crime area the public has rumbled that the police capacity to deal with this is extremely limited."

Mr Parr added: "There are some strikingly low figures about car crime resolution, meaning most of the public simply give up reporting it because the chances of anything positive happening are so slim."

"The country is just short of investigators," he said. "There's lots of forces that haven't got enough detectives - therefore, very often, crimes aren't allocated to the right people to investigate."