Northumbria Police Commissioner rejects argument police cuts aren't linked to rising crime

The Home Secretary dismissed the link while announcing the Government's new strategy to tackle serious violent crime

Author: Luke WilsonPublished 10th Apr 2018

Northumbria's Police Commissioner says it's time to reverse the cuts to police forces around the country - as the Home Secretary rejects claims that falling police numbers are the cause of a recent rise in violent crime.

Vera Baird says the link between the two is "obvious", and the Home Secretary's denial of the link - "ludicrous".

It comes as the Government announces a new strategy to tackle serious violent crime, with aims to bring a new Offensive Weapons Bill before Parliament in the summer - a leaked document yesterday showed there "likely" was a link between rising crime and falling police numbers.

Vera Baird said:

"Of course, there needs to be quite separate response officers that get up quickly when a 999 call comes, and we need detectives and specialists in sexual violence - and when the numbers are cut, it's the preparatory work, which turns into prevention, which suffers because clearly, you cannot not attend a 999 call, you can't not investigate a case and you can't not support someone who's been sexually abused."

The Home Secretary said:

"But before I tell you what the evidence shows, I want to start by addressing head-on some of the theories that have been circulating.

"One of the contentions is that there are not enough officers on the streets. The evidence however does not support this. In the early 2000s, when serious violent crimes were at their highest, police numbers were rising. In 2008, when knife crime was far greater than the lows we saw in 2013 to 2014, police numbers were close to the highest we’d seen in decades.

"And the head of the Metropolitan Police has said she does not believe the recent spike in attacks is due to cuts to police budgets either.

"Equally, to those who blame the recent spate of violence on changes to the provision of youth services, I say that that too is far too simplistic.

"And in my view, simplistic arguments are no substitute for a serious strategy. And that’s what I want to spend my time talking about today."