police budget cuts

[danchip]

i heard on the news this morning that people are asking the government to scrap the cuts in the police budgets!

I for one think that these budget cuts are a good thing and i'm not one of these people who wants less police on the streets so that i can go out and commit crimes.

I just think that these cuts will mean that the police will look at themselves and hopefully make themselves more effective and efficient!

For example if you go to my local court on any given day there will be a police woman sitting taking names of people who are in court that day and then sits during the cases opening the dorr to the dock for the defendants to walk in and out, surely this is the job of a court usher who wil get paid far less than a police officer!

instead of having these PCSO's out on the street why cant they do the paperwork!

Instead of having town centres full of police dealing with people causing minor disturbances like peeing in a bus stop, local councils could provide town centre wardens like are seen in some towns and cities now.

I'm not sure if its the same everywhere but where i live if your arrested the police station has a police officer who spends the day taking peoples statements, why couldn't a PCSO or member of the public be trained to do this and allow the police officer to be out on the street!

I work for a private sector company who is employed by a government body and we have had to deal with massive budget cuts as a result of this have had to go through having the whole company monitored to see where things could be cut and made more efficient and in turn this has made things more effective so why cant the police do this?

[jackthehat]

I think the trouble will be that front-line police numbers may well be cut by those sitting behind their desks as a 'political' gesture. It is these 'chiefs' who need culling not the indians who are doing a difficult job as well as they can, in the main.

[rabbitygirl]

The police can and do go out on the street but you are unlikely to see them patrolling on foot. That is done by PCSOs, which is why you see them. And they see more than can be seen from a patrol car. PCSOs have little paperwork to do, which is by design, allowing them to stay on patrol. They call the police if anything serious needs attention. Also by design. Which doesn't mean they wouldn't welcome more powers.

IMO police could retire later, using their skills during their, say, last 5 years, doing some current civilian posts.