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Is thin blue line to become even thinner in Dorset?

8:30am Friday 16th July 2010 in


POLICE in Dorset are bracing themselves for cuts after a study revealed up to 60,000 jobs could be lost across England and Wales.

The respected Jane’s Police Review magazine studied budget requirements in all 43 force areas and came up with the figure based on possible 40 per cent cuts in government departments.

It concedes 25 per cent reductions are more likely but said heavy losses are likely because the police service is not on the list of protected services and Home Secretary Theresa May has warned that it can expect its fair share of cuts.

Dr Tim Brain, recently retired Chief Constable of Gloucestershire, told the magazine: “Obviously we don’t yet know the results of spending reviews until the autumn but, in the meantime, there are some clues.

“This will mean fewer personnel for patrol, response and investigation duties. “The big question is: are the leaders of the service, its representatives and the public ready to accept reductions on such a scale?”

Dorset currently has 1,505 police officers, 159 Police Community Support Officers and 1,067 members of staff. If the cuts are as widespread as predicted, hundreds of jobs could be lost in the county.

But chairman of Dorset Police Federation, Clive Chamberlain, dismissed the predictions as “pure speculation”.

He said: “If they cut police numbers any more it would be like having an Army without any soldiers.”

He said Dorset Police receives the second worst funding in England and Wales from the government so may not be hit as hard as others by the cuts.

Simon Merry, Dorset Police’s head of corporate development, said: “The extent of the government funding cut is still unknown and the impact on officers is not yet clear.

“However, we are examining ways to maintain our frontline services to ensure people and communities remain protected and safe.”

Comments(12)

Hornedreaper says...
9:08am Fri 16 Jul 10

I bet the hoodies are loving this!!

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Rikaroony says...
9:53am Fri 16 Jul 10

So they are debating on spending more money on the surf reef yet cutting vital services???? No wonder so many people leave this country to live abroad.
Yet they still let the immigrants in and pay for them, makes me sick

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Lewcee says...
10:27am Fri 16 Jul 10

You are having a laff.. Even if there were 60 forces in England and Wales, your figures indicate that EACH force would lose, on aveage, 1,000 jobs! Don't you people ever READ what you write. Irresponsible purveyors of discontent, I think. AND, you'll never back down, admit fault, or apologise... because it is not news.
Its just an academic financial projection. That is.. fiction. NOT FACT.

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BottomE says...
12:42pm Fri 16 Jul 10

It might help if there wasn't such a culture of overtime in the police force. Officers are free to pick and choose when they work overtime and this has cost taxpayers millions over the past few years. Officers have treated the public purse with contempt.

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jobsworthwatch says...
1:48pm Fri 16 Jul 10

'No excuses' now then! Stop harassing the motorists and go and catch some real criminals!

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dancingdog says...
6:26pm Fri 16 Jul 10

jobsworthwatch wrote:
'No excuses' now then! Stop harassing the motorists and go and catch some real criminals!
Amen!

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typ says...
11:45pm Fri 16 Jul 10

jobsworthwatch wrote:
'No excuses' now then! Stop harassing the motorists and go and catch some real criminals!
So what type of criminals should the police catch?

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Derf says...
10:11am Sat 17 Jul 10

Another 'quality' Echo 'news' headline ending in a question mark!

Dorset police -- second lowest funded in the country, Second highest for public confidence in the country... says enough for me!

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upontown says...
6:26pm Sat 17 Jul 10

Do we or do we not pay a Police precept in the 'community charge'? you reduce the number of Police then you reduce the amount paid in the police precept, that's fair isn't it? Over to you PBC!

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dvdr says...
7:33pm Sun 18 Jul 10

Is it worth suggesting that a more moderate approach to police attendance at incidents is worthwhile? Minor accidents or incidents now seem to require simultaneous attendance by many police cars and crews, who all seem to stay there for a long time, with no apparent action taking place. Why? These police could be out and about catching real criminals (like motorists) rather than hanging around sites where one car and crew, or at least two such, would suffice. As I understand it, German police are allowed one single hour after any road traffic accident, however serious, to collect whatever photos and data they need before the road must be cleared and open to traffic again. Why can't we do this? Road closures for hours can not be justified if investigating authorities have any sense of overall priority for the public and traffic at large, and if the police really feel the need to close a road for a long time then charge them for it after the first hour. When I worked in Texas, I noticed that police cars there had huge spring bows on their front bumpers so they could clear any accident debris quickly by simply pushing cars etc. out of the way on to the side of the road so that traffic was not impeded. Too extreme for us, perhaps, as being too efficient in traffic management, but management to us seems to mean many police standing around for a long time and no other apparent action or contribution to movement of delayed traffic. Something has got into our culture that means officialdom rules (OK?) and the rest of us must manage with whatever they say must be done or not done. That kind of officialdom needs to be squashed, firmly and quickly. Lets start now!

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Inner Sanctum says...
7:40pm Tue 20 Jul 10

"He said: “If they cut police numbers any more it would be like having an Army without any soldiers.”

Which is exactly what this "government" is going to do. Keep huge aircraft carriers that will never see action, keep trident that will never be used.

Get rid of Army that is already overstretched (just in time to go back into Ireland, again) but actually WORKS.

Get rid of all the air commodores (more than we have squadrons) and other useless higher up air and navy ranks, Admirals in frigates!, we simply do not need - unless the Channel islands are set to invade? Could THAT be the reason behind the middle east war?

Keep the police. Keep the nurses and doctors.

ENLARGE the army to soak up a few of the tens of thousands of unemployable youngsters and civil servants.

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gudmenrmist says...
11:54pm Tue 20 Jul 10

Make them work till they are 65 like the rest of us instead of taking early retirement and then back to the old job within a month. Also get rid of the surplus top heavy Asst Chief Constables especially the ones with no qualifications other than time spent in the force.

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