Cut crime, don’t just complain about cash, Rudd tells police chiefs

THE HOME Secretary has told police leaders to focus on cutting crime instead of lobbying the Government for more money.

Amber Rudd said decisions about funding needed to be based on “evidence, not assertion”.

She called on police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to tell resi- dents how they will make them safer, rather than writing press releases asking for extra cash.

Ms Rudd told an audience of PCCs and chief constables that ministers would listen to their concerns but also “critically evaluate” them.

And she insisted that the pub- lic did not want to hear about disagreements over how cash was provided to forces.

A string of senior figures have raised concerns over resources amid an unprecedented terror threat and rises in levels of recorded crime.

The latest police funding set- tlement will be unveiled later this year. Ms Rudd accepted that part of being a PCC was about speaking to the Government about resourcing.

“But it mustn’t just be about lobbying the Government for money,” she said.

“It needs to be about cutting crime, delivering on the priorities you were elected on and being held to account by local people in your area when you don’t.

“So when crime stats go up, I don’t just want to see you reaching for a pen to write a press release asking for more money from the Government.

“I want you to tell your local communities and the victims in your area what your plan is to make them safer.”

She acknowledged that an increase in complex investigatory work and an unprecedented wave of terror attacks had put pressure on forces.