West Mercia PCSO numbers drop by a fifth
The number of police community support officers belonging to the force which covers Shropshire has reduced by nearly a fifth since 2010, it has been revealed.
It comes after it was revealed more than 1,000 of the police support posts nationally have been cut every year since 2010.
Figures released by West Mercia Police show there are 233 PCSOs working on the streets across the force area this year, compared to 285 in 2010.
About one quarter – 72 – of West Mercia's PCSOs are based in Shropshire but figures are not available to show how much that has dropped in five years, the force said.
Police chiefs said in the majority of cases staff had been redeployed to other roles, including a number who had been successful in applications to become full-time police officers.
Barrie Sheldon, West Mercia's deputy police and crime commissioner, said: "PCSOs fulfil a number of vital roles in modern, local policing.
"They deal with people, gathering intelligence and helping tackle anti-social behaviour. They provide a fantastic service to the communities they serve.
"Clearly, the number of PCSO posts in West Mercia has reduced in recent years due to having to make major savings across the force. But the percentage of PCSOs we have lost here is quite significantly below the national average, and within the PCC's office, we have made sure those reductions were kept to an absolute minimum.
"One of the first things we did after Bill Longmore was elected as PCC was to provide funding to safeguard a number of threatened PCSO posts, and make sure they were retained by the force. New policing models have been introduced for West Mercia, and we want to protect the current numbers of PCSOs, as well as regular officers, for the future."
West Mercia Police spokeswoman Abigail Hartley said the number of PCSOs in West Mercia was down by just over 18 per cent since 2010.
She added: "In the majority of these cases staff were redeployed to other roles, including a number who have been successful in their application for police officers.
"As can be seen from the force figures, PCSO numbers across the force were very stable in the period 2010 to 2014. In respect of Shropshire the number reduced in March 2014 to 65 from 72 following introduction of our new policing model."
A study by Unison found there had been a 27 per cent reduction in the number of PCSOs nationally, with more than 4,400 jobs lost.
