Federation chair calls for investment in policing

18 August 2021

The public could be put at risk by a continued lack of investment in policing, says the chair of West Midlands Police Federation.

Jon Nott says a decade of cuts to police numbers coupled with increased demands such as the Covid-19 pandemic mean that officers are under pressure like never before.

And he is urging the Government to increase the investment in recruitment and retention of officers so they can cope with those demands.

Responding to recent events, Jon said: “We are in the midst of a recruitment campaign that will see our numbers boosted by 20,000 over a period of three years but the reality is that is just not enough.

“Our population has increased and the very nature of policing has changed as we try to deal with more traditional offences as well as new and emerging crimes, such as human trafficking and cyber-crime. In addition, the pandemic has added a whole new raft of challenges.

“Officers are under huge pressure and simply cannot always react in the way they would like or how the public would expect and this could put people at risk.

“We now need to see the Government commit to long-term and sustained investment in recruiting and retaining police officers so that we can provide the very best service to the communities we serve.”

Jon’s comments came as the Federation’s national chair, John Apter, expressed similar views in a post on the Police Federation of England and Wales website.

John said: “It seems that no matter what happens within society, the finger of blame always leads itself towards policing, before the facts are known.

“The harsh reality is, despite the almost daily information being put out by Government and other agencies about the increase of police officer numbers, that we are still nowhere near where we need to be to react to everything the way the public would expect and the way that we should be able to. This is an inconvenient truth for some.”

He added: “Low numbers and a global pandemic mean that there is more pressure. Pressure on frontline officers, response policing, detectives and pressure on back office functions including departments like firearms licensing.

“The pressure is intolerable and leads to delays that are unavoidable despite our best efforts. This is the reality that policing is facing, while at the same time being held accountable for matters that sit firmly with other agencies.

“Policing is often the service of last resort and we can’t always say no, we can’t close our doors at 5pm on a Friday afternoon.

“We need to increase our numbers, officers and staff, above what is promised by the Government or we will continuously be chasing our tail, never being able to be fully proactive in dealing with the pressures we face.

“The lack of genuine investment in policing is putting the public at risk and that is something that no society should ever accept. My colleagues, officers and staff, are committed to doing everything that we can to keep the public safe, but we need the help to do this.”