Greater Manchester’s Police Chief Steven Watson is one of six including Met Commissioner Mark Rowley who write in today’s Times that the government won’t meet its crime targets without serious new investment.
In the article they write that the alternative to increased funding is “the retrenchment we saw under austerity.”
They add that “without investment there will be no restoration of the prevention-focused neighbourhood policing, no halving of knife crime and violence against women and girls and police forces left trying to build confidence with fewer officers focused on the issues that matter to the public.”
The other signatories are Merseyside’s Chief Serena Kennedy,Craig Guildford, chief constable of West Midlands police, John Robins, chief constable of West Yorkshire police, and Gavin Stephens, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
In the letter to the paper ahead of next month’s spending they say “ it is the most important moment in decades for the government to choose to back policing”. They warned that their ability to “secure outcomes for victims is at risk” without “substantial investments”.
