Call for more police on streets

A CALL for more police on the streets has been made by Warrington North MP Helen Jones and Labour’s Police Commissioner candidate John Stockton.
Their campaign is in response to new figures showing that police numbers have fallen to the lowest for nearly a decade across England and Wales. This includes the loss of 144 officers in Cheshire since March 2010.
They say there are now nearly 10,000 fewer officers on the streets, with the majority of the officers lost coming from 999, neighbourhood and traffic response units.
In Cheshire, the number of police officers fell from 2,155 in May 2010 to 2,011 in May 2012.
Ms Jones said: “People in Warrington want to see police on their streets, but these figures show the Tory-led Government’s cuts mean 144 officers have already been lost from our local communities, with more cuts to come.
“Crime fell by 43 per cent under Labour according to the British Crime Survey. The same survey shows this progress has ground to a halt under the Tory-led Government during which time we now know they have cut nearly 10,000 officers.”
Mr Stockton (pictured) said: “The Government need to realise that you don’t cut crime by cutting 144 police officers. Cheshire Constabulary’s capacity to prevent crime, detect and arrest criminals is being undermined by cuts that go too far, too fast.”
He said police budgets have been cut by 20 per cent and in four years in Cheshire almost 250 police officers will be lost, despite having a force of less than 2,000 police.
He added: “This cannot be good in helping to reduce crime in Cheshire; there’s already been a worrying increase in the amount of robberies, sex offences and drug offences in recent months.
“Crime fell by 43 per cent with Labour according to the British Crime Survey and I’ll be working alongside Helen to ensure we continue to cut crime, not police in Cheshire. We’re calling on the Government to think again to save the vital police officer jobs that protect our community.”