More than 1,000 police community support officer (PCSO) jobs in England have been cut every year since 2010, leaving the public with little or no reassurance over safety, according to a UNISON report published today (Tuesday).
The report – More trouble in the neighbourhood – shows there has been a 27 per cent reduction in the number of PCSOs in England, with 4,430 jobs being cut since 2010.
As PCSOs make up 75 per cent of the neighbourhood policing teams that keep communities safe, such drastic cuts have had a huge impact on the ability of police forces across England to patrol our streets, says UNISON.
UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “People feel safer when there is a visible and reassuring police presence on the beat.
“But four years of savage cuts to PCSOs mean that one in four police patrols have been withdrawn from our neighbourhoods since 2010. If the Conservatives are returned to power next week the harsh police spending cuts they are proposing would see many more PCSOs cut.
“This government has shown no interest in protecting frontline police despite its promises to do. Ministers’ obsession with cuts is now placing the public at greater risk. With fewer PCSOs, vital evidence and intelligence gathering will be lost and fewer crimes solved.
“Five more years of a Conservative government would sound the death knell for neighbourhood policing – upon which so many people rely.
“We are repeating our on call on Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to investigate the impact of these cuts on the quality of the service.”
More trouble in the neighbourhood is part of a wider UNISON study looking at the impact of local government spending cuts, which is due to be published tomorrow (Wednesday).
Notes to editors:
More trouble in the neighbourhood is available here http://www.unison.org.uk/documents/4551
In March 2010 in England – there were 16,200 police community support officers in post. In September 2014 – their number fell to 11,770.