Cuts To Resources Hit Neighbourhood Policing

Drastic cuts to resources mean that officers can no longer deal with every neighbourhood policing incident, Hampshire Police Federation has said.

Federation Chair Zoë Wakefield said she “partly agreed” with a recent comment by the Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Gavin Stephens, who said that forces had lost sight of “bread-and-butter” neighbourhood policing – burglary, shoplifting and the things that affect people’s day-to-day lives.

She said: “I don’t think the focus has been lost, I just think that because of all the cuts there aren’t enough officers to deal with everything, so some things have to fall off. You just can’t deal with everything when you’ve had such drastic cuts to your resources.”

She added: “I think there is some onus on stores to sort out their security better for some of the shopliftings, and same maybe for some of the business premises for burglaries.

“But I don’t think the focus has ever been lost on tackling burglaries in people’s homes. The focus has always been there, but sometimes we haven’t deployed to them just because there aren’t enough people. It’s not that we don’t think they’re important or don’t think they deserve a good service. We do. You just can’t deal with everything and something has to give.”