Savage cuts to the police force is making the UK a more dangerous place to live in, according to crime commissioner.
West Midlands police and crime commissioner David Jamieson warned that having fewer officers to tackle a sharp an increase in crime is a “deadly equation.”
Jamieson told the BBC’s Today programme in an interview over the weekend: “The homicide team in the West Midlands is actually at bursting point at the moment dealing with the many serious incidents they’ve had,” he said, noting that homicides are going up rapidly.
“Add to that the sexual and domestic crime which has been much more important in the public’s mind in the last one or two years.
“We really are at a point now where it’s extremely difficult to see how we can sustain what the public would call an acceptable level of policing,”
He was questioned as to whether he believed police cuts had put the public under a greater threat, he replied: “I think that’s the inescapable conclusion.
“And I leave your listeners to work this out. You know, we have far fewer officers, we’re not able to deal with all the incidents we could deal with. It’s a deadly equation, isn’t it?”
Around 40,000 knife and gun crimes involving a knife or a sharp instrument were recorded last year.
Homicides across England and Wales rose 12 per cent in 2018, to 701.
“Government continues to deny link between rise in serious crime & cuts to police officer numbers”
