Concerns over drop in police numbers

Victims of crime are being let down due to a possible drop in police officer numbers, politicians fear.

There are concerns the number of police officers serving in Gloucestershire has dropped since last May.

There are 22 fewer officers since Conservative party member Chris Nelson was elected as police and crime commissioner according to analysis of Home Office statistics by the Liberal Democrats.

Liberal Democrat councillors say the Conservatives are failing to keep their promise to communities and they are calling for a return to full and proper community policing. 

Gloucestershire County Councillor Paul Hodgkinson (Lib Dem, Bourton-on-the-Water and Northleach) said: “People in Gloucestershire are being let down and taken for granted by this Conservative Government. With so many local crimes going unsolved, we desperately need more police on our streets and in our communities. 

“Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and known personally to local people.”

“The Conservatives’ pledge to boost police officer numbers looks set to become yet another of their broken promises. They are letting down victims of crime and our communities right across our area.”

But Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson said it will be the Liberal Democrats who “will certainly have egg on their faces” by the end of the financial year when the constabulary will have 46 more established officers than last year.

He said the whole constabulary will continue to grow for every year of his term in office.

“Of course there is always some fluctuation in force strength due to those reaching retirement, particularly as many held back from making career changes as they valiantly fought Covid,” he said.

“But we are well on course to achieve the Government’s contribution of 154 additional police officers by the target date of March 31, 2023, and it would be wrong and disingenuous to say otherwise.

“Thanks to the significant investment that the Government and I are making into policing in Gloucestershire, our training centre is literally bursting at the seams with new officers, police community support officers and staff who will very shortly be on the streets of our county, preventing crime and keeping communities safe.

“Since May 2021, when I was elected, a larger than usual number of officers have taken their retirement, which they had chosen to delay to help the constabulary and the public while we were dealing with the burdens of the pandemic. 

“This has been compensated for by recruiting more officers, in addition to those required to meet the uplift targets. This is normal business for the constabulary.

“I am very grateful to those retiring, for their public service, committed approach to serving residents, and would like to thank them most sincerely for the long years of dedicated service they have shown our county.”