POLICE representatives from West Yorkshire were last night meeting MPs in the latest step of a high profile campaign to highlight the impact of budget cuts.
A reception, organised by the Police Federation, was held at the House of Commons to hammer home to politicians and peers deep concerns of rank and file officers over keeping the public safe, as part of the Federation’s #CutsHaveConsequences public awareness campaign.
West Yorkshire Police Federation chairman Nick Smart said the force had lost 1,000 officers and would lose substantially more in the next few years.
“We are going back to the 1980s in terms of our ability to deal with calls. We have lost an element of proactive policing already because officers haven’t got the time.” West Yorkshire Police stands to lose a total of £163 million in government funding cuts and the force still has to find £37 million of savings.
Mr Smart said: “If we keep reducing police numbers , services will stop. The number of air bases for police helicopters has already reduced, for example. It’s putting the service under real strain and it’s going to get significantly worse.”
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