Federation chair calls for investment in policing

16 September 2021

The public could be put at risk by a continued lack of investment in policing, says the chair of West Midlands Police Federation.

Jon Nott says a decade of cuts to police numbers coupled with increased demands such as the Covid-19 pandemic mean that officers are under pressure like never before.

And he is urging the Government to increase the investment in recruitment and retention of officers so they can cope with those demands.

Responding to recent events, Jon said: “We are in the midst of a recruitment campaign that will see our numbers boosted by 20,000 over a period of three years, but the reality is that is just not enough.

“Our population has increased and the very nature of policing has changed as we try to deal with more traditional offences as well as new and emerging crimes, such as human trafficking and cyber-crime. In addition, the pandemic has added a whole new raft of challenges.

“Officers are under huge pressure and simply cannot always react in the way they would like or how the public would expect and this could put people at risk.

“We now need to see the Government commit to long-term and sustained investment in recruiting and retaining police officers so that we can provide the very best service to the communities we serve.”

Jon’s comments came as the Federation’s national chair, John Apter, expressed similar views in a post on the Police Federation of England and Wales website.