Police Fed says 'numbers don't add up' over Home Secretary's theft investigation demands

The comments come from the chair of the federation, Barry Horton, who said the government had "reaped what they have sowed" through cuts and under investment.

It follows the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman's announcement that police must investigate every theft and follow all reasonable leads to catch offenders.

She said it was "completely unacceptable" that criminals are often "effectively free to break certain laws".

It comes after the 'uplift programme' which has seen the government recruit 20,000 police officers to restore numbers to 2010 levels.

But the move has been met with criticism from Mr Horton, who said officers were overworked, understaffed and faced barriers to their every day work.

He said: “Of course our members want to investigate every crime, go after criminals and get them off our streets, and support the victims of crime.

“That’s the whole point of being a police officer and the reason we joined the service.

“However, what the Home Secretary is saying, the numbers simply don’t add up.

“The Conservative Government reduced police officer numbers by 20,000 after 2010, and we lost thousands of support staff and infrastructure as well as frontline experience.

“Since 2010, the population has increased, the crime rate has risen and the types of crime are more complex to investigate.

“The demand on officers now is immense.”

Mr Horton said the issues around data protection legislation and disclosure guidance – known as DG6 – were taking up valuable police time and resources.

“The disclosure issues with DG6 have created so much work for police officers it means they spend hours upon hours behind their desks and not patrolling the streets,” he said. “It’s farcical.

“Of course our members would rather be on the streets catching criminals rather than wading through paperwork, but that’s the situation we find ourselves in.

“The Government have simply reaped what they have sowed with austerity and a decade of cuts and underinvestment.

“But when we as a federation said that cuts would have drastic consequences, a former Home Secretary accused us of crying wolf, but we were simply telling it as it is.”

He added: “What we need now is sustained investment in the service, the people and the infrastructure, so we can deliver the service that we and the public want to see.

“We need the Government to listen to us and to work with us to remove the red tape that wastes so many officer hours each day.”

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.