Police 'scraping the barrel' - Press Association news story
10 August 2011
By Tom Morgan, Press Association, Crime Correspondent
The revolt of England's feral youth could hardly have come at a worse time for police.
Overstretched forces are "scraping the barrel" in the desperate battle to bring the rioting crisis under control, rank and file officers say.
As well as claims of rock-bottom morale over the biggest force budget cuts in modern times, a series of legal battles over public order tactics has heightened pressure on frontline decision making.
Scotland Yard has the added headache of dealing with the chaos in the wake of the resignations of two of its top officers over the phone hacking scandal.
With officers working around the clock to allow record numbers to take to the streets, Simon Reed, vice chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said the "cupboards were bare" for forces as he attacked the Government's treatment of forces.
"What is ironic is that the Prime Minister is taking the credit for putting 16,000 extra officers on the streets because it equates to the number of officers who will lose their jobs because of government cuts,"
he said.
There has been heightened scrutiny on policing at public disturbances in the wake of Ian Tomlinson's death at the G20 protests.
Mr Reed said accusations that officers had previously used too much force would "be in the mind".
He added: "If they were seen to be using force, we know that they would be investigated more thoroughly than the rioters would.
"They've seen what has happened in the past - they are very concerned about that, they have livelihoods to continue with. Can we blame officers for being wary?"
The Metropolitan Police has been angered by accusations that it has been taking a cautionary approach to the violence.
"It is simply wrong to suggest officers were initially told not to actively arrest those involved in disorder," a statement said.
Mr Reed said there had been poor leadership from politicians over tactics.
"Officers feel completely denigrated by this government for the last year of so. The politicians have rarely had anything positive to say.
They have changed pay and conditions and the general tone of policing."
More than 34,000 police jobs will be lost as part of Government cuts by 2015, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary said last month.
Mr Reed said a repeat of this week's scenes in four years time would be impossible to police and "catastrophic".
He added: "We have not got the resources now, we are already at a tipping point.
"Other forces are really struggling to assist any way because they have one eye on what potentially might happen in their own area.
"We really have scraped the barrel... We are stretched at the moment but with the loss of officers over the coming years will make things impossible to achieve."
Rioters outside London appeared to have attempted to taken full advantage of officers being drawn into London.
A message from one troublemaker on Twitter last night claimed police numbers were down as he or she said a "riot" was being planned for Salford from midnight.
The message went on: "Be there as 200 of our officers have been sent to London and we only have between 200-300 on site."
Mr Reed said Britain's safety was in the hands of the the goodwill of officers.
"The officers are working very long hours, some haven't gone home for a day or so," he said.
"Those that aren't on the riots are working 12 hour shifts on their days off to make up for shortfalls. It's affecting all forces and most officers."
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