Police Federation was not crying wolf

Dear Sir,

An 18 month Policing for the Future inquiry by the Home Affairs Committee has this week revealed that the police service "urgently needs more money".

The Home Affairs Committee said policing is at risk of, "becoming irrelevant" to most people as crime rises and the proportion of solved cases falls. It found that the number of offences recorded has risen by a third over three years, with violent crimes soaring, while during the same period charges and summons have plummeted by 26%.

More than 20,000 police officers have been lost since 2010 and Neighbourhood Policing has been hit particularly badly with the level of officers in some forces being reduced by two thirds.

The report also found that the proportion of fraud cases investigated is,"shockingly low" and that it is highly unlikely that more than one in 200 victims ever sees their perpetrator convicted.

This report stated that there could be dire consequences for public safety if funding is not addressed and that there had been a "complete failure of leadership" from the Home Office.

So who is to blame for this appalling state of affairs which has put the public's safety in such great danger ?

In 2012, the then Home Secretary told the Police Federation at its annual conference to stop, "crying wolf" about the impact of financial cuts.

However, at that conference, Inspector Damian O'Reilly, who in 2010 was named Britain's community policeman of the year, blasted the then Home Secretary after he revealed government cuts forced him to leave his job in 2012 because the changes that had been imposed had caused community policing to collapse. Inspector O'Reilly then asked the then Home Secretary to seriously reconsider the budget and the level of cuts over the next five years.

Clearly, Inspector O'Reilly was far more aware of the crisis in policing than the then Home Secretary who so shamefully mocked the police at their conference and was so wrong to have done so.

Who was that Home Secretary who has let us all down so badly ?

None other than Theresa May, our Prime Minister, who was Home Secretary for six years from 2010 to 2016.

At that conference, where Theresa May condemned the police for, "crying wolf", the chairman of the Police Federation at that time told her, "If the public aren't scared, perhaps they would be if they knew just how few cops were on the night shift while they slept last night".

Theresa May must bear the responsibility for failing in her most basic duty as Home Secretary of ensuring the safety of the public.

If Theresa May had any honour, she would accept that she has totally failed in her duties as Home Secretary and Prime Minister to protect the safety of the public and would resign as Prime Minister with immediate effect.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Douglas,

2 Hollycroft,

Congleton CW12 4SH