Police operating on a ‘shoestring’ in broken justice system, chief warns

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Police chiefs will hit out at years of underinvestment in law enforcement today as they demand support for forces operating on “shoestring” in a “broken” criminal justice system.

The president of the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA), Nick Smart, is expected to call for the government to properly resource police with sustainable funding in his annual address at the police chiefs annual conference.

He will tell policing minister Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE that forces are “taken for granted” as he questions where policing sits among national priorities. He will urge her to start a new relationship with police after widespread riots demonstrated the vital importance of policing.

In his first address as president, he will say: “This is a time to lay a marker, and show us that things will be different, that we will no longer face year on year of underinvestment, our calls for change will not be ignored, and we will finally start to feel both valued and respected.

“No one knows policing better than your workforce. Let us help you get it right. Let’s start afresh with a blank canvas for policing where the key stakeholders who know about policing – your workforce, those who live it every day, are listened to.”

He is expected to push back at language used by politicians over policing numbers which do not “reflect reality”. Despite government promoting the highest number of police officers ever, he insists forces have seen an average increase of just six officers extra per year since 2010.

The police chief will also stress the need for investment, not just in policing but right across the criminal justice system, which he describes as “broken”.

He will say: “We are doing all we can, and ‘all we can’ is not enough, because we are operating on a shoestring. Victims are being failed in the most damaging way and this must change.

“The sheer frustration that colleagues at all ranks and in all departments feel at being unable to provide victims with the service they deserve is palpable.”

In a series of demands, Mr Smart will ask the government to reinstate a Royal Commission into the criminal justice service which was promised by the Conservative government in 2019 but never delivered.

He will also call for a definition of the police mission to prevent forces losing resources to deal with non-police matters.

He will also highlight on the wellbeing crisis facing the police workforce and call for minimum standards of occupational health to be mandated and inspected on across policing.

The annual address will be delivered to Dame Diana Johnson, Minister for Fire and Policing, who will deliver a speech in response at the annual policing summit in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, on Tuesday.