Scrapping 60,000 police jobs will "see crime rates soar", warns UNISON

Public sector union UNISON warns of increase in crime due to police jobs being cut.

Commenting on a report by Tim Brain, former finance officer at the Association of Chief Police Officers, that 60,000 jobs cuts in policing could be made by 2015, Ben Priestley, UNISON’s national officer for police staff, said:

“Policing in the UK is set to suffer if these huge cuts go ahead. There has been a major investment in policing over the last ten years, leading to a fall in crime.

“Cuts to police budgets and a fall in workforce will cause huge damage to this record and we are likely to see crime rates soar.

“Policing in 2010 is all about teamwork - if police staff are removed then frontline officers will be spending their time back at the station doing their work, rather than getting out there and catching criminals.”