- Conference
- 2015 Police & Justice Service Group Conference
- Date
- 18 June 2015
- Decision
- Carried
Conference recognises the unsavoury and unpopular cost saving decisions that Police Forces are considering to meet the ruthless funding gap imposed through the comprehensive spending reviews which are being continued by this government.
The service cuts are putting the public, our members’ lives and their families at risk.
The local Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were supposed to put localism at the top of their agendas yet decisions to shut police stations and reduce public access is being made behind closed doors without public consultation or scrutiny.
The public expect to be able to contact the police in times of personal difficulty, but the assertion that the public can use their mobile phones or internet is no better than Marie Antoinette telling the starving peasants to eat cake! Many members of the public who attend police stations have a high expectation that they will receive a professional service from the person they speak to face to face. Many serious crimes are reported to front line staff due to the personal contact they receive at a front desk. The front desks at police stations are usually staffed by our members who provide a vast range of general local information which a call centre cannot offer.Front desks complement local control rooms forming an integral first line of support for an already overstretched public service.
Closures of police stations have the effect that crime in an area goes un-reported and therefore the crime figures show a diminution of offences which is not a true reflection of the facts.
Conference calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1)Lobby MPs to stop the cuts and consult with local communities;
2)Launch a campaign highlighting the grave dangers there are by closing or radically reducing opening hours;
3)Highlight the advantage of localism in front desks;
4)Lobby chief officers and PCCs to consult with communities about the value local services provide to the public
5)Develop a campaign to fight all future cuts to funding and staffs within the sector.