Policing at ‘tipping point’ over budget cuts, warns police chief

Dave Thompson, the chief constable of the West Midlands force, said agreement was needed on what the police should stop doing. It is an idea discussed privately by police chiefs and carried out by stealth by some forces.

“The public’s experience is policing that is less visible, less responsive and less proactive,” he wrote in a post on the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) blog.

“Core aspects of policing – such as answering calls, attending emergencies, investigating crime, bringing offenders to justice and neighbourhood policing – are being pushed beyond sustainability, and are in danger of becoming ineffective, to the detriment of confidence in the police.”

Thompson, who leads on finance and resources for the NPCC, took aim at the Conservatives’ approach to policing since they came to power in 2010.

Read the full story on The Guardian newspaper here.