Policing cuts?

As a result of the current austerity, politicians say ‘we need to cut back on public spending‘. The government have also suggested that, despite the NHS and education being ‘ring fenced’, all areas of the public sector must share their part of the financial burden. Given that you believe this to be correct and the high level of importance society generally places upon policing, is it right that the police service isn’t ‘ring fenced’ also?

Most practitioners within the service are fully aware (and supportive) of the need for reform however, there are many different ways to ‘skin a cat’. To achieve the levels of savings the government expects, the senior management (ACPO) of the service is threatening officer numbers will have to be ‘slashed’ considerably? Taking action to reduce frontline delivery before administration is simply unacceptable. That type of methodology should be a last resort, not a first consideration!