Is our policing system now finally broken?

Hospital guard, mental health call outs, welfare visits, driving health emergencies to hospital. Four of the endless call outs police officers in the capital have to respond to despite them not being policing issues, in addition to their ever demanding job as a police officer.

The public have complained for many years about the lack of police officers on the streets and how they would like to see the return of the ‘Bobby on the Beat’ style policing where each area had its own group of designated officers that knew the area and knew its residents and together they looked after their so called patch. Communities have nauseatingly complained that they do not see officers on our streets and want their return. Burglaries go unattended, car thefts go unattended, phone thefts go unattended-not because police officers can’t be bothered to answer, but simply because there are not enough police officers on our streets.

Officers warned us that these cuts would have consequences and here we are. There are endless days when there just aren’t enough officers patrolling our community due to so many demands. Officers used for the increasing protests in the centre of London, officers used for hospital guard, the list grows and grows and police sergeants find themselves at their wits end trying to cover an area with next to no officers-an impossible task.

Officers are over worked, working ridiculous hours, under valued, under staffed and definitely under appreciated. Nerves are frayed, tensions are high and stress levels are through the roof for our police staff.

At a recent meeting of national police chiefs, the decision was made that all burglaries must now be answered. Definitely a decision the public would appreciate, however where are they going to find the officers to respond? What jobs will have to be put on the back burner as now burglaries must be responded to? These decisions are great, but ultimately it is the frontline officers that then carry them out, and it is these very officers that are struggling and telling us that policing is now broken.

Policing needs support and its officers need urgent care. We must now acknowledge that over a decade of cuts brutally imposed on our police forces have left the service in tatters and on its knees. The majority of our officers do an incredible job day in and day out despite facing horrendous conditions. Police staff across the capital, do an amazing job dealing with very high levels of pressure.

Instead of repeatedly knocking our police, it must now be looked after, it must now be funded properly and they must be able to police our capital as it should be.

The Metropolitan Police Service has an incredible history and most of its officers do an amazing job everyday in our community. Yet it is treated shamefully and abysmally by those in authority who should be helping the service to go forward, instead of providing them with endless obstacles.

Cuts to so many services right across our communities have meant an huge increase in policing at a time when they are already so stretched.

It is time now to support our officers, it is time now for commanders and co to reach out to their frontline officers and support them, It is time now for the public to stand up and support our officers once and for all.