UNISON is warning that it would be a disaster for neighborhood policing if the government fails to protect ring-fenced funding for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). The union fears that PCSOs will be in the front-line of cuts when the police funding settlements for forces is announced next week.
The union is calling for the ring-fence on neighborhood policing funding to continue into the next Comprehensive Spending review period, and to March 2013 at the very least. Without this guarantee, the union says that community policing will be undermined allowing anti-social behavior to spiral.
Ben Priestley, UNISON