One in 10 ‘frontline’ police cut (From This Is Cheshire)

One in 10 ‘frontline’ police cut

3:20pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in News By Matthew Hobbs

By MATTHEW HOBBS MORE than 100 officers have been cut from Cheshire Police, latest figures have revealed.

Spending cuts have seen a 10 per cent reduction in front line staff who deal with crime in Warrington since March 2010, according to the Home Office.

And union bosses are warning that the need to save £35m from the force’s budget will mean less time to deal with issues such as anti-social behaviour.

Simon Roberts, chairman of the Cheshire Police Federation, said: “We will always have to be good at the big things, but when we look at anti-social behaviour, community engagement, something has to give.

“The amount of work we are getting through the door isn’t decreasing.

“Back office roles and support staff are being made redundant in their hundreds.

“It means their work has to go to someone else. If cuts continue we will return to the dark days where officers will be doing the back room jobs which will effect the front line.

“We are at the tipping point.”

The union chief also added that retirement figures are increasing while recruitment has ground to a halt.

“It’s a big decision to stop recruitment as it takes a number of years to train somebody and more years to get that level of experience.

“That is causing us some concerns. We are seeing an exodus of officers and a shortage of recruitment at the other.”

Warrington North MP Helen Jones said: “People in Warrington value the work that local police officers do in our community and I will be voting against the Tory-led Government’s police cuts next month.

“The scale of Government cuts has led to the biggest fall in national police numbers in decades at the same time as we are seeing the biggest increase in personal crime.”

But following the announcement that crime had dropped in Warrington last week, Det Chf Insp Andy Smith said: “We have lost staff. It does have a day to day effect but we will become more streamlined.

“We have managed to achieve the reductions with the reductions in staff.”