Police commissioner warns force cannot take more cuts

Mr Stansfeld, the Thames Valley PCC, was responding to claims by the public services union, Unison, that swingeing Government cuts were putting the public at risk.
According to research by Unison, Thames Valley Police now employs 536 ‘police service volunteers’ (PSVs) – the second highest in the report.
Meanwhile the force has also axed 250 police staff since 2010.
The union claims the 70,000 hours worked per annum by Thames Valley Police PSVs is the highest of any force in England and Wales and has cost £76,816 each year.
The union said in a statement: “The research...reveals that a new ‘Home Guard’ of 1,844 PSVs has been quietly recruited by police forces in the South East to replace the 2,080 police staff job cuts made by the Tory-led government.
“There is an increasingly long list of job roles carried out by volunteers (including) involvement in crime scenes, drug testing people in custody, forensics, emergency planning, property detention, deployment management and the provision of scientific support.”
The report warns that the actions taken by volunteer police staff are exempt from scrutiny by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and adds: “Questions must be asked when volunteering spills over into areas that were previously the preserve of directly employed, highly-trained, vetted, skilled and accountable police employees.”
Mr Stansfeld began by praising the work of PSVs, stating: “The more people you have helping you, the better.
“Volunteers enjoy the job and some are very useful in administrative jobs, which benefits everyone.”
However, Mr Stansfeld added: “I’m concerned about any cuts to policing.
“We’ve taken very considerable cuts in the Thames Valley and so far our performance has been extremely good – in fact, overall crime is at a 25-year low. But the cuts have gone far enough. I have already discussed this with the Prime Minister.”
Asked how Mr Cameron responded, Mr Stansfeld said: “He said the country was suffering from massive debts and all organisations must cut their cloth accordingly. But I believe the police are part of the fabric of any civilised society and you must be careful how much cloth you cut.”
Regional Unison manager Steve Brazier said: “Home Office guidance on police support officers stipulates that volunteers should not under any circumstance replace the roles of directly employed police staff, but this is evidently not the case.
“This report exposes a massive loophole in the current arrangements which could pose a significant threat to public safety.”