Gadgets trigger police jobs fears

9:30am Friday 4th July 2008

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A HI-TECH new gadget which gives police on-the-spot access to information could lead to job losses for bobbies in North Yorkshire.

Chief officers in the county joined forces with police in West Yorkshire and Humberside to bid for a share of £50 million of Government funding for the devices – which give bobbies access to a national police database, crime records, intelligence information and email.

North Yorkshire Police have been granted £1.54 million to implement 1,000 of the gadgets by March next year – and believe they may now be able to make “cashable savings” through a “reduction in numbers of police officers and/or police staff” as a result.

But Mark Botham, Chairman of the North Yorkshire Police Federation, has warned that any reduction in the number of sworn police officers could be dangerous.

The controversial plans were revealed in report which will be heard by North Yorkshire Police Authority’s special planning and policy board on Friday, July 4.

According to the report, a team is working alongside other forces in the region with consultants from Leeds University Business School “to identify as many benefits, cashable and non-cashable, as possible”.

It states: “The project team already believes there may be cashable savings associated to a reduction in numbers of police officers and/or police staff needed to re-key data.”

It also claims there will be less office space and IT infrastructure needed.

But Mr Botham has hit out at the plans and has called for a national review of policing.

He said: “For operational effectiveness and public safety we cannot continually reduce police numbers.

“The public, through local and national taxation, has paid for a police service that is the envy of the world.

“What gives politicians and senior officers the right to systematically dismantle it while charging the same level of taxation?

“We need an independent national review of policing now for the benefit of all before Roger Baker’s prophecy comes to fruition.”

He was speaking out after Roger Baker, who was deputy chief constable of North Yorkshire Police from 2003 to 2005, and is now Chief Constable of Essex Police, warned a day could come when there are no police officers on the beat.

Mr Baker said: “We are taking too many cops off the streets.

“My fear is in the next ten or 15 years there will be virtually no sworn police officers on our streets.”

Mr Baker unveiled plans to employ 600 more officers in Essex, 500 of which will be uniformed bobbies on the streets.

When North Yorkshire Police made their bid for funding for the gadgets they said the aim was to reduce the amount of time officers have to spend in the office to use the computer systems, and increase the time they can be out on the beat.

The system is meant to enable officers to have “up-to-the-minute” access to intelligence on local criminals and aid with the arrest of suspects at the earliest opportunity to protect the public.

Bobbies would also benefit from access to back-office systems which in the past have only been accessible on desk top computers in police stations.

According to a report to the police authority at the time, the gadgets could lead to each officer being able to spend an extra 45 minutes per shift out on the streets and if every frontline officer in the force was given one, the report claimed it would mean a seven per cent increase in time spent on the streets – the equivalent of an extra £3million in frontline resources.

Grahame Maxwell, Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, said in December the number of officers in the county would have to be reduced to cut costs.

He insisted no frontline jobs would be lost but said some officer positions would be replaced with civilian staff.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “There are no plans for any compulsory redundancies of either staff or officers at North Yorkshire Police. Nor will there be any reduction in frontline police officer numbers.

“All organisations, both public and private, will constantly check they are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible and utilising the benefits that new technology can bring. We are delighted the latest figures show detections have risen whilst crime in North Yorkshire has fallen for the fourth year running and is now the lowest anywhere in England.

“We want to maintain this standard and we are confident the current use of staff and officers, the introduction of Safer Neighbourhoods and commitment to partnership working will achieve this.

“The recent top to bottom capacity and capability review, coupled with regular future checks, will identify ways in which we can make even better use of our resources with any savings ploughed back into Safer Neighbourhoods.

“This may involve using staff rather than police officers in back office jobs but it must be stressed that frontline police officer numbers remain ring-fenced and will not be reduced.”