Endless cuts made to policing now show the extent of the damage made.

The headlines facing the Met Police today are –A Service Not Fit For Purpose. Yet there are many officers across London who despite the endless barrage of abuse, do an outstanding job on the streets of the capital.

You cannot expect a service to keep functioning as it is after years of complete and persistent attacks as it has had. Imagine the Met Police as a vehicle travelling on the streets of London. Firstly, it has its petrol cut so it struggles to get to all areas it should be. Then it has tyres removed one by one and finally the steering wheel is removed making it impossible to go any further.

The petrol was removed when brutal cuts were made many years ago by a Home Secretary who then went on to be Prime Minister. Officers urged, pleaded the government not to make these cuts as the lasting impacts they would have would be inconceivable. They failed and here we are.

Lack of support from politicians and more so attacks from them instead on the Met to undermine their service were the tyres coming off one by one. Alongside daily negative articles in the media continually attacking officers for being fat, slow, aggressive, not aggressive, underhanded, over handed etc, you get the picture. No matter what they do-there is criticism.

The steering wheel came off when officers in their own force were rooted out and shown to be horrific offenders, destroying trust in the local communities across London.

Yet, everyday thousands of officers put that uniform on and go out on our streets because they genuinely want to make a difference, and they do. For every bad, there are many many outstanding officers whose work is invaluable to our community. These officers quietly go about their job removing dangerous criminals off our streets daily. They answer our 999 calls for help, they struggle to get to all calls due to the ridiculous shortage of officers we now have.

Before you knock them, look at the sheer level of work and abuse they face every day and ask yourself if you would be able to do what they as I certainly would not.

There is an incredible shortage of officers across the capital and a rising level of violent crime. Yet according to a politician numerous years ago there was no link to an increase in crime and shortage of officers. Yep, keeping shaking your head in disbelief.

So here we are London.

These officers are struggling as human beings, yet still putting their communities first by going to work each day and answering the calls for help. Most are brave, and dedicated and actually deserve our thanks.

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