PCSOs are ‘promoted so police can hit target of 20,000 extra officers’ as ministers are on course to miss their manifesto pledge of recruiting more PCs
- Only 11 of 43 forces across England and Wales are projected to meet the target
- Claims police chiefs are ‘fiddling’ the numbers to meet last week’s deadline
2
View
comments
Ministers are on course to miss their manifesto pledge of recruiting an extra 20,000 police officers, analysis shows.
It comes amid claims that police chiefs are ‘fiddling’ the numbers by raiding the PCSO workforce, promoting them to full-time officers in a race to reach the target.
An extra 16,753 officers had been recruited by the end of last year after the Government made the 20,000 pledge in 2019. The deadline for hitting it was last Friday.
It means an extra 1,082 or so new officers were needed a month in the first quarter of this year to hit the target.
However, analysis shows that in the final quarter of last year, just 473 officers were recruited on average per month.
Ministers are on course to miss their manifesto pledge of recruiting an extra 20,000 police officers, analysis shows
Only 11 of 43 forces across England and Wales are projected to meet their targets, based on the current monthly average of new officers recruited.
Those forces are Cheshire, Cleveland, Derbyshire, Hampshire, the City of London, Merseyside, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Thames Valley and West Yorkshire.
It comes amid claims that some force chiefs are promoting police community support officers (PCSOs), who do not carry warrant cards like qualified officers, without replacing them in a bid to hit the Government target.
A source who sits on the board of one police force said PCSO numbers had fallen drastically in recent months for this reason.
House of Commons library data, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats and shared with the Daily Mail, shows PCSO numbers fell from 9,284 in March 2021 to 8,263 in September last year – an 11 per cent drop.
The number has also fallen by a third across the 43 forces covering England and Wales since 2015, from 12,331 to 8,263.
Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: ‘If all the Home Office is doing is moving around headcounts, then the target feels like one big con. Some will think this looks like fiddling the numbers.’ Last week the Mail revealed how just 2 per cent of car thefts end in a suspect being charged and hauled to court.
PCSOs are salaried workers who assist police with their work in communities. They share some but not all of a police officer’s powers and do not carry warrant cards.
However, they are seen as key for helping tackle anti-social behaviour as they have powers to give fixed-penalty notices, take alcohol off a person under-18 and they can ask an officer to arrest someone.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has previously insisted forces are ‘on track’ to reach the 20,000 target.
Last night her department said it remains confident the target will be hit as they await final data, with findings due to be published next month.
Source: Read Full Article
