Concerns over the effectiveness of police forces both nationally and regionally are hitting the headlines. The public expect law and order to be maintained, and yet confidence in the service is low. Police chiefs and commissioners have warned that communities deserve a properly funded and well-equipped police force. With money tight, forces await decisions on their funding for the coming financial year.
Essex Police could be facing a deficit of millions of pounds. The Chief Constable of Essex Police, Ben-Julian Harrington, told the BBC that his force was facing a £34m shortfall in the next financial year, with warnings of cuts of up to 200 officers. “To put it bluntly,” he said, “the books don’t balance.”
As funding shortfalls force police forces to cut resources and reduce officer numbers, communities are left questioning whether their safety is truly a priority, further deepening public distrust.
There is a similar story across the East of England. The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for Cambridgeshire, Darryl Preston, for Hertfordshire, Johnathan Ash-Edwards, and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk, Tim Passmore, have joined their opposite number in Essex, Roger Hirst, in sending a joint letter to the Home Office warning of cuts. All are members of the Conservative party.
Meanwhile in Norfolk, Sarah Taylor, the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, has warned of a “gloomy” year ahead, with cuts needing to be made “across the board”, and an increase required in council tax. She said,
“In the face of years of funding cuts, not only to the police but also the other partners involved in the criminal justice system, meeting those expectations is becoming increasingly challenging.”
Bedfordshire also has concerns ahead of the funding allocation.
Public safety or political strategy?
While many public sector services faced austerity measures from the previous Conservative governments, the police have had increases in funding from central government since 2016. This has also been matched with additional funding for counter-terrorism, and for tackling other national priorities and serious violence. There is also funding from the local authorities in the form of a percentage of council tax.
The harsh reality is, however, that the costs of policing have also gone up, including in some unexpected areas. Essex Police report spending almost £1m on kennelling this year, due to changes in the law regarding dangerous dogs. Harrington said, “To kennel a dog is £35 a night – it was £20,” adding that the force was paying to kennel in the region of 145 dogs at the moment.
These budget pressures add additional pressure on a police force trying to address competing demands for resources, to maintain law and order alongside the need for greater efficiency in terms of delivery, as well as more transparency.
With forces required to meet the political demands laid out in the Policing and Crime Act, and the Policing Vision 2025, as well as local needs set by the politically affiliated commissioners, the question is: will public safety or political strategy prevail?
Culling rotten apples
While funding shortages strain the police’s ability to meet public expectations, misconduct by serving officers further undermines confidence in the police. Public confidence in the police has been damaged in the wake of officer behaviour. According to a report by the House of Lords:
“YouGov’s monthly tracker ‘Are the police doing a good job?’ shows that over the course of 2020 an average of 70% of respondents thought the police were doing a good job relative to 21% who thought they were doing a bad job. However, by April 2023 these figures were 47% and 44% respectively. Similarly, the proportion of people who had not very much confidence or no confidence at all in the police to deal with crime averaged 38% in 2020. As of April 2023, this figure had risen to 53%.”
While the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Metropolitan police officer made national news, there has been a steady trickle of other problematic cases involving serving officers. In the year between April 2023 and March 2024, 593 serving police or former officers were placed on the ‘barred list’.
The barred list shows all officers, special constables and staff members who have been dismissed from policing after investigations under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020 or Police (Performance) Regulations 2020. It also shows the equivalents for police staff.
The troubling rise in officer misconduct is not just a national issue – it’s felt acutely in regions like East Anglia, where forces already face resource constraints. The national list of barred officers includes 63, or 10.6%, from East of England forces. In 2022/23, the number was 45, or 11.4%, of the 394 officers dismissed nationally.
The police force with the highest number on the barred list in the region in both 2022/23 and 2023/24 was Essex. In 2022/23 it had 3,755 officers, 2,427 police staff, 102 police community support officers and 327 special constables.
Of those, 14 officers were added to the barred list in 2022/23. This increased in 2023/24 to 25 officers: 9 officers were dismissed and placed on the barred list, 15 were placed on the barred list after resigning, and one officer was placed on the barred list after retirement.
One example is Andrew Watt, 51, who admitted assault following an incident in Clacton-on-Sea in December 2023. He pushed a woman after her arrest, with the altercation causing her a head injury requiring hospital treatment. A misconduct panel ruled that he would have been dismissed if he had not resigned beforehand.
The second highest number of barred officers was Bedfordshire, where 12 officers were added to the barred list in 2023/24. Hertfordshire barred 11 officers, Norfolk barred 10 officers, Suffolk 4 officers and Cambridgeshire barred 1 officer.
With dwindling resources and growing public dissatisfaction, the need for a well-funded and trusted police force has never been greater. But how can these challenges be addressed?
Looking ahead
There will always be a need to ensure that ‘the thin blue line’ is maintained. It is the bedrock of our criminal justice system. Paul Gibson, Lincolnshire’s Chief Constable, asks, “At what point does a police force lose its viability? … The bottom line is we can’t police on a shoestring.”
Whether it is funded by local authority or central government, the funding must match public expectations. However, with that funding comes the need for the public to have faith in those enforcing the law or acting with authority, and to believe that they are not abusing their trusted positions.
The current crisis facing police forces in terms of funding, officer misconduct, and public confidence cannot be ignored any longer. If action is not taken now to address these interconnected issues, we risk undermining not just policing, but the very fabric of trust that holds our communities together. It’s time for decisive leadership and a long-term, sustainable approach to policing that puts the public and their safety first.
Share this article on Bluesky:
More from East Anglia Bylines
