A TOP police officer has pledged that West Mercia is committed to keeping the number of frontline officers on duty in Bromsgrove.
Assistant Chief Constable Martin Evans also said changes in shift patterns would see more officers on duty when they were needed most.
His comments come after a serving West Mercia Police officer voiced fears that threatened cutbacks in staffing could ‘make it worse for everyone in the town’.
The whistleblower, who contacted the Standard before the police precept was set at just under four per cent, said officers were under so much pressure they were coming in early and working days off to deal with the workload.
Documents sent to us spoke of a possible reduction in officers across North Worcestershire in Redditch, Bromsgrove and Kidderminster – making the thin blue line even thinner.
Our source said: “These officers will deal with missing persons, all the handovers of people in custody, attend all the new incidents and investigate all the volume crime – vehicle crime, burglaries, shop theft, criminal damage, anti-social behaviour, etc.
“I know the Police get criticised for non-attendance or a lack of service. As frontline officers it is because we hold an average of 30 investigations, attend incidents and just don’t have the time to deal with it, and I’m sorry.”
However ACC Evans said West Mercia was going through ‘a period of change’ with investment in new technology and processes which would benefit both the public and staff.
“Now our officers are equipped to work in this way, we will be changing our shift patterns to ensure we have officers available when the public need them most,” he said.
He added the technology would give officers greater flexibility and allow them to do many police procedures in situ rather going back to the station. However he acknowledged this flexibility could lead to less officers being sent to an incident.
He added: “The Neighhbourhood Teams will not be reducing and we are absolutely committed to keeping the numbers.
“At the moment we have a number of PCSO vacancies and we are working internally to fill any PC vacancies.”
A number of first line and second line management roles were being ‘taken out’ he said but this was to prioritise frontline officers.
Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said “Our communities want policing resources focused where they matter most – on the frontline. I would reiterate my commitment to protecting our numbers of PCs and PCSOs.”
West Mercia Police this week confirmed a budget of £211m for the coming year, increasing their share of council tax tax by 3.94 per cent, equivalent to an extra 2p a day for a typical home.
n WHAT do you think? Are there enough police officers covering Bromsgrove and Rubery? What have been your experiences? Email your views to [email protected]
