West Midlands Police has almost 700 fewer officers than in 2010, despite Government Uplift programme
The deputy chair of the West Midlands Police Federation has described the Government’s 'Uplift' recruitment drive as "no lift", after it was revealed the force has almost 700 fewer officers than in 2010.
Jase Dooley said that huge investment would be needed for the force to meet the Home Secretary’s demand that forces pursue all reasonable crime leads.
He added that the West Midlands Police budget had been slashed and that it is the main force in the country to be hit by cuts, and that officers were working full shifts without a break and without food and water.
Furthermore, he claims that investigators are “hitting brick walls” such as data protection laws around disclosure.
Mr Dooley was responding to Suella Braverman’s comments that police forces had the resources to pursue all reasonable leads following the Government’s Uplift programme and the restoration of the 20,000 officers cut after 2010.
The deputy chair of the federation said: “Of course we want to catch these people. That’s the whole point of being a police officer.
"But this spin that 20,000 police officers have been recruited - that was just to get back to the levels of 2010 but we’re still 698 officers down on that in the West Midlands. The Uplift has been a no lift for us."
He added that hundreds more officers had been seconded to the counter-terrorism unit and the regional organised crime unit, which have been established since 2010.
"So, we’re even more officers down, and the Chief Constable is working tirelessly to try to get the numbers back up again," he said.
"The Metropolitan Police are struggling to recruit officers at the moment. The Chief Constable has approached the Home Office to say that if they don’t get their recruitment figure, West Midlands Police will take it and that we can facilitate another 400 officers.
"This will also mean an uplift in the staff to train them and facilitate other areas where our police staff colleagues provide assistance and support.
"It will mean we’re still 300 short from 2010 numbers but it’s a step towards getting back to where we were.
"And while the chief is committed to increasing numbers, we also need a commitment that this will translate into less disruption for officers, and better support and investment in the infrastructure.
"The Government also cut many of the mechanisms that supported the numbers we’re now reintroducing at some pace."
Mr Dooley said the force also faced another £30m of cuts to its funding after its budget was slashed by £30m in the last financial year.
He added: "West Midlands Police has been the main force that has lost the most, and we’re a metropolitan force that needs to be funded correctly.
"How can the chief cope with that? How can he expect to give a full service to the public of the West Midlands when they’re cutting the funding we’re getting?
"He’s being expected to police more, he’s being expected to investigate more, but with 700 fewer officers."
Mr Dooley said that members were being "run ragged" because of the demands being placed on them.
"Response officers are going without their rest for nine hours,” he said. “What other areas of business would allow that?
"Our officers regularly do not have any food or water and are expected to continue to turn out for these jobs with fewer staff and fewer people on the streets.
"The service is becoming young in service. We’re losing a lot of people who are resigning because it’s not what they expected the police to be.
"Officers are being injured daily just doing their job, which takes them out of action."
He also claimed that the DG6 disclosure guidance introduced by the director of public prosecutions in 2011 made a detective’s job "almost impossible". It requires investigators to provide the Crown Prosecution Service with trial-ready prosecution before it makes a charging decision.
"It’s absolute craziness, the barriers they’re putting up against us day in day out but expecting more and more from us," he said.
Mr Dooley added: "Something has got to give. The Government has to work with us on this and they have to invest more money in policing.
"They’ve got to get the right people into the job. And they’ve got to be smarter in the way we police, because internet fraud and social media is a huge issue but we haven’t got the resources and the brick walls we’re coming up against on data protection and GDPR are killing us."
