Police Federation response to Policing White Paper

02 December 2009

Responding to today’s announcement of a policing White Paper, Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, says:

“Today’s White Paper is like the curate’s egg; good in parts.  However, it is important that any cuts do not impinge on frontline policing services or public safety.  The public cannot pay the price of political decision-making. 

“Spending should be curtailed where it makes sense but not to the detriment of the public who rely upon and expect a 24/7 emergency police service. Substantial savings can be made by centralising procurement and this is an issue the Police Federation has been raising with government for some time.  Full implications of force mergers must be properly thought through and any change must not impact on service delivery or police officer numbers.  With regard to single patrols, there are occasions when single patrolling is suitable and other times when it is not. The safety of police officers is paramount and this must remain a local operational decision and not a political one.

“Where over-time is concerned, we have a job to do. We do not do overtime out of choice, we have a duty to uphold the law. We cannot just walk away from criminals or turn our backs on crimes being committed. The nature of the beast is that officers incur overtime. To drastically cut back is likely to lead to a police service in carnage that cannot deliver. Next the government will try to schedule where and when crime happens.

“It is time that someone tackled this piecemeal approach to changes to policing. Any change to the police service needs to be fully considered, with frontline being the priority. It is also important that sufficient numbers of fully warranted police officers are maintained in order to give the police service the flexibility and resilience required. To that end, in order that we have considered change and not just change for change’s sake and after ten years of asking, we reiterate our long standing call for a Royal Commission. ”

ENDS

For further information please contact the Police Federation of England and Wales press office on 01372 352000

Click here to download in PDF format