Officers being moved away from less urgent teams risks losing a “fundamental part of policing”, it has been claimed.
Lincolnshire Police will be moving around 50 officers to the sections which answer 999 calls, protect victims and investigate crime, away from neighbourhood, rural and roads policing, writes Local Democracy Reporter Jamie Waller.
The six month trial is being held in response to a shortage of staff and severe budget pressures, with leaders saying there could be a “real gap” otherwise.
However, a person who has seen the proposals fears it will gut teams which deal with low-level problems in communities, anti-social behaviour and working with partners.
Lincoln’s neighbourhood policing team will reportedly shrink from 10 to three officers, and sergeants will be cut from five to two. (The force declined to comment on these figures.)
The person, who has extensive experience with policing, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service with particular regards to the team in Lincoln: “This will take away a fundamental part of policing.
“Neighbourhood policing in Lincoln will be in name only, it will barely be a team anymore.
“They won’t be able to attend community meetings or work with councillors, MPs and other partners to address the root causes of crime.
“And how will they reduce the ongoing risk to the farming community with rural policing shrinking?
“What I have heard would make me really concerned for the public. I expect better as a taxpayer. The message from the police seems to be they don’t have capacity to deal with anything low-level, even if it affects people’s lives.”
Deputy chief constable Chris Davison said there could be an “immediate and long-lasting harm” if the teams gaining officers aren’t properly staffed.
“We have identified three key areas that we need to reinforce with our existing resources to make sure they continue to keep people in the county safe,” he said. “We are recruiting for police officers but there is of course a time gap while they undergo training to be able to be completely deployable, so we know we will soon experience a real gap in the service we’re able to offer if we don’t make some changes now.
“It of course doesn’t mean that we disable [other teams], simply that officers will be contributing into these areas of business in a different way if they are redeployed.
“Our communities will continue to see Lincolnshire Police responding to crimes in a timely and effective way and making sure we prioritise those most in need of our help.”
