Police Cuts UK

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

Actually here most the police are in favour of at least decriminalisation of cannabis. Even the head of the police wants the law changed.

They only enforce the current drug policys because the battleaxe in charge of our home office refuses to even look at drug policy changes and even then many police constabularies are now openly rebelling anyway and have gone public in saying they refuse to go after drug users or small scale pot growers.

originally posted by: bastion

No the spending cuts were announced years ago, including the £12bn cuts in welfare - this cut has nothing to so whatsoever with welfare or refugees, it's purely a government intent on privatising everything and giving tax cuts to the richest 5%.

The police are more and more being replaced by private firms such as G4S as for some crazy reason the government think turning everything 'for profit' will magically make things better.

Wow ok, privatizing ones police force and 12bn cut to welfare sounds fraught to bring big problems as it takes effect.

Best of luck over there.

a reply to: bastion

I think you pretty much nailed it there.

A government obsessed with profit.
Reduce police numbers, crime increases, the cry for private policing becomes louder.

And who will be the largest shareholders in these private police forces?

And with reduced public expenditure will come a reduction in the upper tax bracket.

It really is so blatantly obvious.

This has absolutely nothing to do with gun control laws and everything to do with generating even more wealth for those already obscenely well off.

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

FYI gun related crime is very low here so the need for a fully armed force is not required
but be assured the are plenty of trained firearm officers available for the times a firearm response
is required.

and most officers carry a pepper spray and a large number carry tazer as well.

and speaking as one who has spent time in police armoury's they have access to a plentiful
supply of arms from .38 pistols to .50 rifles should the need arise.

I feel there is more to the cuts than just cost saveing.

in the main the uk police do a good job with what they have but they are struggling
now with a huge amount of admin paperwork and a lack of basic equipment.

with the rising Muslim terrorist threat and the large and growing immigrant population
to reduce the capacity of the police seems counter productive. however
if the idea is to induce a crime wave or racially motivated disorder and rioting
leading to a crackdown and loss of more freedoms then its perfect!

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: Kester

Perhaps the U.K police need to have a chat with the CIA about how to generate more funds...

Better still, free up the Police and save millions by bringing about radical drug policy reforms in this country.

That would be a start.

Cutting Police budgets, at a time when tensions are running high over refugee immigration and with almost 1,000,000 East Europeans now living in Britain, is bound to be having a major impact on crime stats in Britain, is absolute madness.

It's almost as though the Government are planning to subject the people to a crime wave without adequate resources to properly Police it and keep it in proportion...panic in the streets and general anarchy is what will result if Policing budgets are slashed further..then the riots and attacks against minorities will start.

And who will Police that?

a reply to: ShayneJUK

Fair enough... good answer.

I was watching a documentary about some notorious Aussie armed robbers back in the early 80's on the discovery channel, or something. Anyway, they where bragging about how doing armed robberies in the UK with an old shotty was like shooting fish in a barrel back then, since neither the pome cops or criminals had guns.

But even now, in Australia no single cop would take on armed criminals on there own. They'd usually just back off and wait for back up. So in reality, it probably makes no difference if there armed in the first place, since if the situation arises where a gun may be needed, any level headed cop will just stand down and wait for back up anyway.

So yeah... cops automatically being armed in the first place is probably just some macho statement and probably has no practical use, anyway.

a reply to: MysterX

Unfortunately I can only give you one star for that post.

Common sense and critical thinking appear to be attributes sadly lacking in the vast majority of politicians and those actively involved in drafting social policies.
As with most things in the UK profit, personal advancement and social conditioning seem to be the primary drivers.

a reply to: Kester

Hmmm, cuts...

I suppose these cuts do not apply to the freshly minted NCA, the British equivalent of the FBI? Perhaps the NCA should investigate the government for stealing money from regular policing, to pay for outlandish specialist task forces, when the vast majority of crime is local in origin, rather than organised and nationwide?

That would be a coup and a half, would it not?

a reply to: Subaeruginosa

Thats about the way it is here the normal crews can deal with most crime they come across
but if there is a suggestion the the offenders may be armed then "usually" appropriately armed
officers will be called in to handle it.

a reply to: Kester

I suppose if they are going to keep slashing our welfare programs and other social related funds they should employ more Police rather than less considering a significant percentage of our poor and hungry will need to steal to feed and support themselves and other family members. Need to criminalize them somehow.

a reply to: MysterX

I fully agree with you......and if it is not madness at the realms then it must be by design....it is possible the tin foil hat needs to be put on for this situation....

I have been burgled 4 times this year for the first time in my life. The government needs to sort this s**t out because the criminals are already taking advantage of the situation.

The moment we let the government start squeezing the members of society least able to fight back we brought all this on ourselves.

The Bedfordshire police Commissioner has stated that he is seriously considering turning on speed cameras on the M1 to boost finances as the Bedfordshire Police Force's "desperate financial plight" which is directly attributable to government cuts.

Zero tolerance on speeding offences, drivers caught doing 71mph on the M1 would be fined etc, could generate up to £1Million. This in turn would mean the force would not have to lose 25 officers.
Bedfordshire Police Force currently has 169 officers per 100,000 population - the national average is 232.

The Commissioner said the force is currently "stretched to the limits"

In addition he said

The county has the fourth highest level of gun crime per head, fifth highest level of burglary, robbery and vehicle crime, seventh highest level of knife crime, and a high terror threat

Essentially he is saying that cameras that were installed as a safety measure will now be employed as a money making tool.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Anyone driving between junctions 11 and 13 on the M1 on a regular basis best beware.

This from a Conservative Party that portrays itself as the party of law and order - what an absolute disgrace!

I remember it now like it was yesterday; "no cuts to front line services" Dave promised over and over, it was one of his annoying mantras pre-election (the first time).

And now look at the state of affairs. People were taken in by the spiel oh too easily, seemed they didn't even stop to think about what it is the Tories stand for and have always stood for. Friends of mine, family, police officers for goodness sake, all blinded!

Now we have got to the point of private policing filling the gaping holes left by cuts. What will it be - policing only for those who can afford it?

www.telegraph.co.uk...

UK Police are called Bobbies as they were founded by Robert Peel.....
Due to not everyone being armed in the UK it is unlikely as a UK officer that you would come across a firearm very often. As someone else mentioned, a firearms unit would always be sent to any job where it was thought that there may be a firearm involved.
Getting back to the subject of this post, all uk forces will be under immense pressure with these current cuts, many civilian staff have lost their jobs, injured officers are being laid off and there have also been big changes to officers pay and conditions. Officers have to pay 13% of their gross wages into their pension so for a constable at the top of the payscale pays about £500 every month in their 'golden egg pension'. The media would have you think that officers receive a great pension totally free!
The media twist everything in favour of the GVMT and always slag off the police. The Government want the Police and the NHS off their wage bill so won't be happy until G4S are in charge!
By the time the public work it out it will be too late and probably already is!

a reply to: prism

Give me a warrant carrying trained UK police constable over an SIA badged G4S goon anytime!

*Edit*
I had my back against a wall a few years back when SIA badged private security guards had surrounded me but sensibly stayed back until the police arrived because the first one or two knew they were getting hurt if they acted outside of their remit.
When the cops arrived I was relieved and smiled saying "Thank # you guys are here, do you wanna rein those rabid dogs in and discuss whats going on?", the cops were friendly and the SIA badged guards were pissed off haha, they knew that I and the cops looked down on them.


*Edit again*
I was released with no further action after that incident, no caution, nothing, aside from an SIA badged private security goon who had a bruised face for acting outside of his remit and legislative authority lol.

a reply to: grainofsand

Glad it all worked out ok for you...the majority of the community understand that most coppers are trying to do their best of a bad job, who would want to join it now? You now have to work 35 years to get a pension and they have brought in so many ways to get rid of you when you get on the top wage as they don't want coppers to stay for more than 5 years...a colleague had 12 years left to do and because of the new changes in the pension now has to work for 20 years and get £70k less! We also accept that there are bad apples in every job and yes there are some knobheads in the police, but usually they eventually get turfed out....its a bit annoying when police and NHS staff get a 1% pay rise and MP's give themselves a 10% rise which goes on top of their expenses....who are the mugs?
That is all

First off I'l point out this is just my initial thoughts based on no research, I also know that many will disagree with this but.... I do wonder if we need a additional branch in the UK somewhat based on the US National Guard/or even our old Home Guard, That would provide logistal/tactical support to the police forces and support the guarding of our borders looking after internal security threats etc.

The Police do a great job in a difficult situation and are severely under funded and it does worry me, however I genuinely dont see them ever getting back to the times when there was a bobby on every street corner who knew your mum and was able to give you a thump round the ear when you got caught launching fireworks in the street or smashing milk bottles. that time has passed us by,

we need a force that is able to get on with the job of removing genuine scum from our streets and making our cities safe ,

More then that though, We the people need to recreate the communities we once had where everyone in a street knew each other and you didnt steal from those as poor as you, You looked out for each other and helped out in times of need. instead of all been out to grab what we can before the next man gets it.

Its hard to say as it saddens me but maybe we need a war, or something BIG that will make us see things differently again and pull together .Or maybe the saddest thing is we will never see that time again?