The ongoing decline in police force strength presents us with an opportunity to rebalance public policy (Police jobs to be slashed to 40-year low, 1 September).
In the decade leading up to the 2010 general election, the then Labour government threw money at the police in order to boost numbers. The growth in officer numbers that your report notes was disastrous for a balanced approach to public policy.
Instead of a comprehensive network of youth workers, social workers and crisis health teams, we ended up with a proliferation of men and women in uniform with the power of arrest. Mainstream services were crowded out. Police officers took on a multitude of roles: probation officer, social worker, schools liaison, disaster manager, event steward, to name but a few.
It was never realistic for the police to continue to receive generous annual budget settlements in perpetuity. Nor is it desirable that they continue to maintain their currently dominant social footprint.
Further cuts to police budgets, and a reduction in police numbers, is a threat to the powerful police lobby. For everyone else it is an opportunity to rebuild much-needed social institutions.
Richard Garside
Director, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
