Cuts in police on the street show Labour's failure on crime

5.15.09pm GMT Fri 29th Jan 2010

Paul Scriven, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Sheffield Central has reacted with anger to the news that South Yorkshire's Police force was cut by seven per cent between 2004 and 2009, the largest drop of any force in the UK.

Chief Constable Med Hughes said that he had been forced to cut Police Officers because their wage bill was so high, and Government funding had decreased year on year.

A report by the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee showed that South Yorkshire was one of 13 forces across the UK which had seen the number of bobbies on the beat slashed in just five years. The force now employs 2,948 police officers and 2,640 other staff.

Paul Scriven said: 'It is completely two faced that the Labour Government have postured on being 'tough on crime', whilst secretly slashing police budgets, meaning fewer and fewer police out on the streets.'

'When there are almost as many people doing paperwork as there are on patrol, it tells you something about the bureaucratic tick box, target driven culture that Labour have created.'

'The Police do fantastic work in our communities, but they cannot do that if they are handcuffed by having too few officers. When Liberal Democrats took control of the city council, one of their first actions was to employ an extra 15 Police Community Support Officers to work in neighbourhoods across the city.

I understand that residents in Sheffield Central want to feel safe in their communities. A vote for a Liberal Democrat MP is a vote for less paper-clip policing and more Police presence in your neighbourhoods.