'Still not enough' Cambridgeshire police officers despite record levels
There are calls for more investment in the force
A body which represents police officers in Cambridgeshire believes there are not enough of them, despite reaching record levels.
Darryl Preston - Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's police and crime commissioner - told a police and crime panel meeting this week that "we have more police officers in this county than we've ever had."
A report put before the police and crime panel stated that Cambridgeshire Police currently has 1,732 officers in post, the highest the force has ever seen.
"The standard figure we use is 1,732 but at any one time we have actually got more than that," said Mr Preston.
Liz Groom is chair of the Cambridgeshire Police Federation who's served almost 29 years in the force.
"If you look at what's happened in 29 years in the county with regards to growth and demands placed on police officers, it's still not enough," she said.
"(There) still needs to be significant investment in police numbers to enable officers to do the good job they want to do."
'Keeping people safe'
The police and crime panel report said the visibility of local officers has increased in 20 hotspot locations following a £1 million government grant.
As of February, officers have clocked up more than 7,000 additional patrol hours and 50,000 community interactions.
The police and crime report also found that the average 999 call answer time at Cambridgeshire Police reduced to three seconds last year, from 10 seconds the year before.
Mr Preston told the panel that his main priority is "keeping people safe and I know that is the chief constable's priority as well."
'Demand outweighs the numbers'
In its election manifesto, Labour said it wants to recruit 13,000 additional police community support officers, neighbourhood police and special constables.
The Government has also pledged to invest up to £17.4 billion in police forces across England and Wales for 2025-26, which it said is "an increase of up to £986.9 million" from 2024-25.
Ms Groom said more investment in community policing means officers are "engaging (more) with the people we're working with and the community".
But she believes "the demand outweighs the numbers" and "you could throw another thousand officers in Cambridgeshire and still not quite manage the demand.
"I do know if we are still having officers having to work on their days off to keep managing demand, we need more police officers and we need to make sure the officers we do have, have suitable rest."
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