The number of neighbourhood police on the beat has plummeted by nearly 10,000 compared to eight years ago, new Labour analysis shows.
Scrutiny of the police workforce data published today shows the number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) has more than halved since 2010, with 9,112 roles lost, while the number has dropped 10 per cent in the last year alone.
Special Constable numbers have also fallen by 20 per cent – more than 1,704 roles – in the last year.
It comes as half of the population say they never see police on patrol, up from quarter of population in 2010, laying bare the Conservatives’ failure to get bobbies back on the beat.
Police officers employed through the government’s uplift programme continue to be stuck behind desks, rather than tackling crime on the streets. The number of full-time officers deployed to business support roles has increased by 1,500 officers since 2020.
The numbers of police officers recorded as being in ‘frontline roles’ but actually backfilling office work is at its highest ever at 6,352 officers.
Commenting, Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said:
“This is yet more evidence demonstrating how the Conservatives continue to hollow out neighbourhood policing in Portsmouth and across the country.
“I regularly hear from Portsmouth people who want to see more visible police on our city’s streets to stop crime and anti-social behaviour, yet the Government continues to cut the number of Police Community Support Officers without a care.
“A Labour government would change this by recruiting thousands more neighbourhood police officers. But until we see a Labour in power, I will continue to lobby Ministers to ensure Portsmouth people’s voices are heard and our Constabulary gets the fairer funding it needs”
Sarah Jones MP, Labour’s Shadow Policing Minister, said:
“The police and the public have been let down by Conservative governments for too long. Record numbers of police are quitting and we’ve lost half of our vital PCSOs because the government has failed to come up with a proper plan for the workforce.
“Where the Tories have spent the last decade cutting our neighbourhood teams, Labour will build back neighbourhood policing with 13,000 more officers and PCSOs in our neighbourhoods.
“While the Tories take a back seat and blame local forces when things go wrong, Labour will lead an active Home Office with a clear mission to raise confidence in every police force.”
Labour would put 13,000 police officers and PCSOs into neighbourhood roles paid for by merging procurement of IT, cars and other equipment for the 43 separate police forces.
The neighbourhood officers would play a key role in tackling antisocial behaviour alongside new Respect Orders to crack down on the most persistent offenders and hotspot policing to support problem areas and target specific issues in town centres and local communities.
