Shropshire Star comment: Visible Pc presence reassures

Your response will depend on whether you are one of those in public office whose policies led to the spending squeeze in the first place, or maybe a senior police officer seeking to reassure the public that all will be well and that they can adapt.

The response from Telford & Wrekin Council is not to the same emollient script. Councillors are calling things as they see them.

A motion with cross party support is calling for what it describes as fair funding, and says the Government is letting down Telford and Wrekin residents.

It was clear from the outset when the squeeze on police funding began in the austerity years that if there was a provable link between the cuts and rising crime, then the political chickens would come home to roost, despite the efforts of the culpable to shoo them away.

According to councillor Richard Overton, crime has risen by 35 per cent in Telford and Wrekin since 2010.

Whether, in the context of policing cuts, that represents an example of direct cause and effect is uncertain, as there are a multitude of factors which come into play. But look at it this way – nobody could seriously argue that policing cuts improve the quality of policing. And in any event crime is an area in which fear and perception can ruin the quality of life of residents almost as much as the reality of the crime.

For instance, if people think they will be mugged if they go out at night onto Telford’s streets, they will not go out, and whether or not their fear is statistically justified does not matter as much as what they perceive the dangers to be.

Even an internal survey last month within West Mercia Police found almost nine out of 10 officers felt there were not enough of them to do their job properly. Giving the public faith in Telford’s policing is important, and one way to do that is to provide a visible presence which will reassure them. The council’s motion says that despite increases in council tax to pay for new police officers, none of those new officers will be coming to Telford & Wrekin.

Government cuts are “putting our community at risk” it says.

Telford wants more police officers. Telford needs more police officers.