Protests ‘put neighbourhood police at risk’

NEIGHBOURHOOD policing is at risk of being weakened by the time officers are devoting to protests, a cross-party committee of MPS has warned.

The Home Affairs Committee said the repetitive nature of the large Israel-gaza protests and the “deliberately disruptive” tactics of protesters such as Just Stop Oil was placing “considerable resource constraints” on police.

Police have spent at least £30 million deploying thousands of officers to deal with protest marches since the Hamas terror attack on Israel on Oct 7.

MPS said this placed “additional pressure” on Britain’s biggest force, the Metropolitan Police. The force has already failed to meet its recruitment target under the Government’s officer uplift programme.

They noted that other forces were also facing their own local protests, while also being forced to deploy officers under transfer agreements to support the Met.

They warned this was denuding neighbourhood policing. In a report on the issue the committee said: “Should these protests continue indefinitely, it stands to reason that forces across the country will be less able to carry out the everyday neighbourhood and response policing that is so vital to the public.”

It also raised concerns over the “human impact and the wellbeing” of police officers, with more than 4,000 rest days having been cancelled amid the protest action.

Dame Diana Johnson, chair of the committee, said: “It is clear that the current demands on policing are unsustainable without proper reinforcement.

“It is vital the right framework is in place to ensure that protests can continue without the burden on policing becoming intolerable.”

The committee report urged the Government to set out a 10-year workforce plan for policing, replacing the system of individual plans for each police force.

It said the Government should also consider increasing the notice period for protest organisers to inform the police from the current six days in order to give forces more time to prepare.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said there were more than 900 demonstrations between Oct 7 and Dec 10. The Metropolitan Police said it spent around £18.9 million on pro-palestinian protests. The £30 million in total spent on policing protests would be enough to employ 816 Met police officers.

The committee also welcomed a pledge by police to ensure MPS should be able to do their jobs “free from intimidation”.