Stop chipping away at our police service, says Crime Commissioner

As crime continues to rise across Greater Manchester and demand on policing increases, Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd has called on the Prime Minister to stop the cuts and invest in the safety our local communities.

While police officers numbers are cut, demand on the police is soaring as they deal with more complex issues when protecting the public, such as child sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.

The increased demand on police is reflected in the latest figures released today by the Home Office that shows a 10% rise in recorded crime across Greater Manchester, compared to a 3% rise nationally. This includes a 33% increase in domestic violence and a 54% rise in reports of sexual offences. Violent crime also continues to rise.

Despite this Greater Manchester Police has lost more than 1,100 officers since 2010 with hundreds more to go this year.

Mr Lloyd said: “The public expect our police to deal with crime – but they also expect them to deal with complex issues such as domestic abuse, child sexual exploitation and the protection of vulnerable people. Local people are rightly worried about the cuts to Greater Manchester Police and those concerns are cemented today as official figures show crime continues to rise. The Chief Constable and I remain committed to neighbourhood policing but it’s getting more difficult to put the public’s mind at ease as officer numbers fall and demand on the police service increases.

“So today I call on David Cameron to stop chipping away at the police service, invest in public safety and make sure that policing has the money and the means needed to keep us safe.”

Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said: “This increase in recorded violent crimes is showing some worrying trends and placing huge demand and risk on a reducing number of staff. Many of these incidents are complex with vulnerable victims to be protected and dangerous offenders to be brought under control. We are bringing many more cases to court but keeping on top of this is getting more and more challenging.”

Download