it’s been too hard living but i’m afraid to die

edwad:

labourpress:

Ahead of the Spending Review, Labour launches national campaign to protect the Police from damaging cuts

New analysis from Labour shows 22,000 officers at risk

Campaign will build support behind petition from crossbench peer and former Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens

George Osborne must drop plans for ‘drastic cuts’ to the Police that could leave England and Wales with 22,000 fewer officers and put community safety at risk, Labour will say today as it launches a national campaign.

Later today, Shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham will force a Commons vote aimed at halting Government plans to cut Police budgets by up to 25 per cent over the next five years. Labour believes any cuts in double figures will have damaging consequences for policing and public safety.

A national petition sponsored by the former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, crossbench peer Lord John Stevens, aims to build cross-party and cross-community support for the campaign. The country’s former most senior police officer calls on Ministers to “drop plans for drastic cuts”, “listen to the public and police officers” and also warns of the “end of neighbourhood policing”. 

Labour’s campaign aims to get 100,000 people on the petition before George Osborne stands up to give his Spending Review later this month.

In Wednesday’s debate, Burnham will tell Home Secretary Theresa May that police officers cannot be lost at a time when the nature of crime is changing and key types are beginning to rise - including a recent 16 per cent rise in violent crime and 9 per cent rise in knife possession. 

Labour believes that while efficiency savings below 10 per cent can be achieved, a Police budget cut in double figures puts the public at risk. New figures show that a cut of 25 per cent, which the Government talked about, could result in the loss of 22,300 officers if implemented in the same way as spending reductions in the last Parliament. It could mean:

- 5,600 officers lost in London, 1,300 in both Greater Manchester and the West Midlands;

- Some crimes de-prioritised and left uninvestigated;

- The disappearance of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs);

- The end of visible neighbourhood policing as we have known it;

- Failure to carry out community functions, further to reports this year of cancelled Remembrance Sunday parades due to police shortages.

In recent weeks, police chiefs across the country have warned about the impact of severe budget cuts. Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said it would be “a real challenge to keep people safe” if frontline officers were reduced and Lancashire Chief Constable Steve Finnigan warned his force would “not be viable” after 2020 and only able to respond to emergencies.

Between 2010 and 2015, the number of police officers in England and Wales fell by 17,000. 

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said:

“Our message to the Government is simple - with violent crime rising, now is not the time to cut the Police. While some savings can be made, any cuts in double figures will put public safety at risk.

“Labour has shown in the past how it can fight for our NHS. Now is the time to show we can do the same for our Police. If cuts on this scale go ahead, it will take thousands of bobbies off the beat and signal the end of neighbourhood policing as we have known it.

“Every person and every community in the land will be affected by these cuts. But the public are not yet aware of what is about to happen. We have called this debate today to alert people to the danger. If enough people sign this petition we could yet force the Government to back down and protect our Police.”

On his petition, Lord John Stevens, says:

“We call on the Government to listen to the public and police officers, drop plans for drastic cuts and protect visible, locally-responsive neighbourhood policing.

“In the last five years, police forces across England and Wales have lost 12,000 front-line officers. Government plans to cut the Police by between 25% and 40% over the next five years could lead to the loss of over 20,000 more. Indeed, any budget cuts in double figures would spell the end of neighbourhood policing and put the public at risk.”

Ends

Editor’s notes

Lord John Stevens was Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police for five years. The petition can be signed here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/111560

who gives a shit. cut them more

Remember when Russell Brand said protestors should give cops hugs and try to help them get better labor conditions?

“The young people of London, the young people of Britain, from whatever background… Muslim, young black people… we should all come together in public spaces and squares and noisily, loudly creatively protest for the rights of the police and then we’ll see how the police respond to that,” he said.

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/russell-brands-plan-to-love-bomb-the-police-is-fatuous-bullshit-999