By Eric King-
British police are struggling to cope with the challenges of crime and risk becoming “irrelevant”, according to MPs .
A report by the Home Affairs Committee released today confirms that forces in England and Wales are “struggling to cope” because of falling staff numbers and rising crime. The report goes further to accuse the Home Office of a “complete failure of leadership”. It warns that in the absence of additional funding there would be “dire consequences” for public safety. The 18 months inquiries show that charges or summons have fallen by 26%, and the number of arrests have also also plummeted .
Data gathered by the committee suggested forces have lost at least a fifth of their neighbourhood policing capacity on average since 2010.The report also says the Home Office for failing to provide leadership in the adoption of new technology and responding to changing crime patterns.
Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the committee, said officers were “performing a remarkable public service in increasingly difficult circumstances” but were “badly overstretched” and struggling to respond to growing challenges such as online fraud and online child abuse. The damning report by the committee found only a tiny proportion of online fraud cases are ever investigated and forces are “woefully under-resourced” for the volume of online child sexual abuse investigations they must carry out.
The department added that the government had delivered a £460m increase in overall police funding in 2018/19, including increasing funding for local policing through council tax.
National Police Chiefs Council chairwoman Sara Thornton said the report rightly recognized the “serious strain” forces were under and demonstrated how challenges could not be met by institutions acting alone.
Police Federation of England and Wales vice-chairman Che Donald said the government needed to recognize the “true cost of policing” or officers would not be able to keep the public safe.