We need to give police money to protect us
MANY top ranking police officers have been very vocal of late in their concerns about lack of resources to ‘deliver,’ as one top officer put it.
Not being able to ‘deliver’ for the police service literally means not being able to protect the public and fight crime, which is exactly what they strive to deliver nationally, every day, because it’s their core motivation.
If they cannot protect the public and fight crime it affects us all and will create a society where we begin to see an escalation in break down of law and order as criminals of all persuasions realise that they are now less likely ever to be caught.
I believe we are already seeing this in increased road deaths due to dangerous driving, and increases in knife crime, and increased gun crime in Liverpool.
It means we may find ourselves becoming more fearful and worried for ourselves, for the elderly and for our children. That creates anxiety and mistrust and damages communities.
At the end of the day, the starting point for a good and decent and prosperous society is having enough police to effectively tackle those who would harm us on every level, and that may mean something as simple as being able to travel without fear of crime on public transport. None of us would want to live like prisoners in our homes as we get older or literally fear what may be around each corner as we go about our business. The communities we live in need policing.
It is time to give back to the police the resources they need to keep us all safe and tackle all crime, and even to be proactive, as they once were, with issues like gang crime, so we can get on with our lives without always looking over our shoulders.
Most police officers are outstanding people who need to be given back their self-esteem and enough resources and confidence to deliver without putting themselves and us at risk.
They do perhaps the most challenging job in society on a shoestring and are exposed to danger and criticism, that’s not fair for them or us. Jacqueline Cotter, levenshulme