With rising crime, why can’t we have more bobbies on the beat?
THE rise in crime is not surprising, after thousands of police and civilian jobs have been axed. In the West Midlands, police stations are being sold off to help plug the funding deficit of £12.5 million. Stations in Birmingham city centre, Walsall and Dudley have gone. Others earmarked to close are Solihull, Coventry Central and Sutton Coldfield. When West Midlands Police admitted they can’t follow up all crimes reported as they do not have the resources, the Government’s reply was that all crimes should be investigated, but it hasn’t provided more funding. If money is the problem, why do we need police & crime commissioners and chief constables on big salaries? PETER WILLIAMS, Sutton Coldfield, W. Mids.
THE most effective way to provide the money for bobbies on the beat is to merge England and Wales’s 43 police forces. We only need two, for the North and South, which would free up
substantial sums to be spent on police officers rather than expensive police & crime commissioners. MIKE BRERETON, Cirencester, Glos.
WE ONCE had the perfect policing model and were the envy of the world. Neighbourhood police officers who worked within their communities knew their beats. No one needed to draw them a map, point out the vulnerable or send them on a course to spot
the obvious. Children looked forward to visits from their local bobby and many aspired to walk in those noble footsteps. Our police service has suffered at the hands of career politicians who have seen fit to make cuts and politicise the service. The police precept in my council tax continues to rise while bobbies on the beat have disappeared. ALISON HEALES, Ingatestone, Essex.
WE ARE constantly hearing how the police service is stretched to the limit and officers can’t attend minor incidents due to funding cuts and a lack of numbers. This does not seem to apply in Cumbria. I have seen four officers watching one of their colleagues point a speed gun at vehicles leaving a village. Perhaps the chief constable could lend these officers to another force? He obviously has a surplus. STEVE CROSS, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancs.