Express & Star comment: Public deserves better protection from police and courts

It has only been 18 months since the force embarked on a cost cutting programme that saw dozens of community bases and stations shut down.

Now we are told that some police bases will close so that officers can move into buildings currently operating as fire stations.

The force has its reasons for deciding to sell off police buildings, but has the move yielded any positive results?

Crime continues to rocket, with violent crime, burglaries, murders and offences involving weapons seemingly hitting new heights every time a set of Home Office figures are released.

The policy of closing down police bases needs a serious rethink.

In the short term it may make economic sense.

Political football

The region's police and crime commissioner David Jamieson has always said that he would prefer to have more officers on the beat rather than buildings.

But we should not be in a situation where it is down to a choice between one or the other.

Sadly, the debate over police funding has become a political football, kicked around between senior officers and Labour politicians, with the law abiding public stuck in the middle.

Theresa May's Tories have long since proved that they are anything but the party of law and order.

Even with the massaging of the news that inevitably goes on in 2018, crime is on the up.

The public deserves better protection from the police and the judiciary.

In years to come historians will look back on this era of rising crime and scratch their heads.

The big question they will ponder is why no one had the gumption to tackle the issue with the necessary strength of will.

Police priorities are being hijacked for fear of offending pressure groups and the social media mob.

Couple this with a criminal justice system that is not fit for purpose, and we are left with a situation where law and order appears to be on the brink of falling apart.

Meanwhile the silent majority continues to pick up the tab.