Tory police cuts are only part of the ongoing crisis affecting victims of crime
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Austerity affected courts, prisons and public services while rates of poverty surged, creating the conditions for more crime. The period in which clear-up rates for the most serious crimes collapsed coincided with big cuts to police budgets, and the subsequent fall in police officer numbers of about 20,000.
The last Conservative government, responsible for the cuts after 2010 in the name of austerity, spent its time denying they would have any damaging effect on crime fighting in England and Wales. Then, in its final years, it started to reverse the cuts, and pretended “wokery” among law enforcement had diverted officers’ attention.
There are few left who would argue the effect of slashing police budgets was not damaging. The question that remains is how much those cuts can be blamed for the deterioration in service for victims. Other factors have been at play since 2010. Cases became more complex, with the average serious investigation now involving the examination of electronic devices. A low – and sometimes nonexistent – budget for technology means digital forensics for policing are nowhere near as good as they need to be.
Austerity shrank other public services, and too often policing picked up the pieces. The biggest complaint from police chiefs was the amount of time officers spent dealing with mental health issues, which is now being reduced. But credible senior voices in policing say too many chiefs lost focus on the core mission of catching criminals, and that the cadre of capable chief constables is thin and showing little sign of being replenished.
