The fall in the level of overall recorded crime is to be welcomed. This is testament to the hard work of our police forces across the country.
The fall follows a trend which has lasted for over 30 years but this is no time for complacency. Policing has been well funded in this country and across the developed world, not only because the public have asked for it but also because it’s the sensible thing to do. Spending money on preventing crime saves money in the long run. Dealing with crime and its associated problems does not come cheap.
There is a school of thought which states that it is inevitable that crime will rise during a recession. This is clearly not the case as shown by the downward trajectory in crimes committed.
Partnership working between frontline agencies such as the police, local authorities, charities and community agencies has made a big difference. Dealing with the underlying causes of crime and antisocial behaviour has made a big difference too. This all costs money.
All this progress is now under threat, due to the coalition government’s swingeing cuts. All the frontline agencies are having to make very difficult decisions and it is the public that will lose out.
The Association of Chief Police Officers have said that the reduction in the crime figures was a ‘credit to those officers and staff who have faced the challenge of major efficiencies while continuing to tackle crime in our communities’. The problem is that we have only experienced the tip of the iceberg as far as the cuts are concerned and once they really start to bite we will inevitably start to see a rise in both crime and the fear of crime. Submissions to our policy commission within the National Policy Forum highlight that crime and the fear of crime remain high on people’s lists of concerns.
Police forces across the country are being stretched ever further, as the drafting in of many officers to cover for the G4S Olympic Games debacle shows. Leave cancelled, other duties deferred. I didn’t hear the government say that the reliable public sector was coming to the rescue of the Olympics after being let down by the unreliable (to put it mildly) private sector.
Here in Surrey, Labour’s police and crime commissioner candidate, Robert Evans, is making ‘No to police privatisation’ a cornerstone of his campaign. This follows some police forces considering outsourcing some of their roles to G4S – look where that’s got the organisers of the Olympics!
Labour’s police and crime commissioners will have a crucial role in exposing the effects of the coalition government’s cuts programme on crime. They will be the public’s first line of defence. It is crucial that we in the Labour party work extremely hard to get as many of our candidates as possible elected in November.
Therefore, while welcoming the reduction in crime figures and recognising that it is part of an ongoing trend across the developed world it must be recognised that this has been as a result of well-funded, well-supported police forces. This is something that will disappear as the government’s cuts really start to kick in.
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Michael Hassell is a member of Guildford CLP and of the National Policy Forum policy commission on crime, justice, citizenship and equalities
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Read on for more Progress articles on crime and justice
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