Proposed Tory cuts will mean a reduction of 10000 in the number of police protecting us.

[sandyRoe]

Where's the party of law and order now?

[lslowry]

just get rid of the useless PCSO's

[Kathyan]

So say Labour!

[boxtops]

If it's anything like the rest of the public sector, it's trying to cut spending back to sensible levels after a vast increase in spending (which we couldn't afford) in past years. Means we all have to prioritise what we do, with the resources we will now have available to us.

[The-HouseHusband]

Most of the losses will be natural wastage as personnel retire or are injured in the course of their duty.

The most annoying fact is that if they cut the high ranking posts by a quarter then we would not need to lose so many of the front line officers that are needed to try and prevent crime.

lslowry why would you want to get rid of PCSO's? They provide a visible deterrent in all areas and allow the more specialised and highly trained officers to deal with serious incidents. Also they receive around half the pay of a regular police officer or around a tenth of the money earned by the dead wood at the higher end.

[lslowry]

Househusband, Hampshire constabulary has 330 PCSO's averaging £23636 per year. They solved 50 incidents and handed out 122 fines. The combined wage bill was £7.8 million. work out the cost yourself per incident and fine.

[rojash]

"lslowry why would you want to get rid of PCSO's?"
They mostly know nothing about the law.
Most of them are wannabes who can't make it as police officers, but like to throw their weight around.
Judging by many of the videos on YouTube, they spend more time trying to stop people from taking photos or videos than trying to prevent real crime.

[optics2b]

Most of the PSCO's do an excellent role supporting every type of operational policing. I think it is unfair to critise them for what is shown on youtube or by how many incidents they have solved, which is the remit of the police.

[lslowry]

Optics, not so long ago PCSO's refused to pull a boy out of a shallow lake in Wigan, the boy drowned while they stood by. Any right minded person would have tried to save the poor lad.Unfair to critise eh.

[lslowry]

or even criticise

[squarebear]

This is just the beginning. Watch the news over the next few months to see community centres, libraries shut down. School classes getting bigger as fewer teachers are employed and so on.

[optics2b]

Yes it is unfair to call PSCO's 'useless' where, evidently, from your comments you do not understand their remit or powers.

Unfortunately the course that police officers and PSCO's attend teaches that you are not allowed to pull anyone out of water who is in trouble.

[DTCwordfan]

As long as it is the backroom.

Why pray do we in the SW need Devon & Cornwall, Somerset, Avon, and Dorset police forces when major cities have just one for a far, far larger population. Therefore we have 4 Chief Supers whereas we just need one - we can also cut the four Finance Managers and a lot of the accountants and back room admin, we can cut the HR managers and their teams, the PR dept etc etc - there's load of backroom cuts out there to be had without affecting the front line.......so I just don't buy their arguments.........

[DaisyNonna]

Actually can't remember when I last saw a ploiceman on the street.
Have seen the pretend police on the bus, going back to the police station.

[DaisyNonna]

or even a policeman.

[rov1100]

As the police are mostly involved in dealing with traffic offences maybe we should employ more of the large cardbaord cutouts with a reflective jacket and place them in all the hotspots of the country. The real police could then be employed for burglary and other crimes we are all worried about.

[jake-the-peg]

Or perhaps they should be more involved in clamping down on tax evasion and the black economy.

Then perhaps they wouldn't have to cut so much money off of the Police budget

[youngmafbog]

If labour hadn't wantonly spent all the money they would not have had to do it, tacking tax evasion would not tield as much as you claim. The cost of recovery is expensive and other loopholes are found. It is not a simple as you make out.

[Khandro]

rov. The problem with cut-out cardboard policemen is they loose their stiffness in the rain.

[Old_Geezer]

That'd be fun, a few life sized cardboard coppers for the lounge :-)

[sandyRoe]

If we stood one in the window would it inhibit Burglar Bill?