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Officers spend only 25 per cent of time tackling crime, says police chief

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/458045/Officers-spend-only-25-per-cent-of-time-tackling-crime-says-police-chief

POLICE officers in one of ­Britain’s largest forces spend just 25 per cent of their day investigating crime, its Chief Constable has admitted.
Most of the time they are dealing with issues that would have been handled by other agencies in the past, he says.
David Crompton, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, says his cash-strapped force is under huge pressure to mop up an ever-increasing workload because police are now “the service of last resort”.
He claims sweeping budget cuts at other agencies have resulted in fewer people being available to help those in need – and, when nobody knows who else to call, the police end up picking up the pieces.

He revealed: “Contrary to popular opinion the force doesn’t deal with crime for the majority of time – less than a quarter of what we deal with is crime.
“Nearly half of everything relates to keeping people safe, missing people, people with mental health issues, all sorts.
“These are things other agencies are increasingly ­moving away from because of their own budget cuts. But it’s giving us extra work.
“While we are spending time on these things we can’t spend as much time as we might want to on crime. Crime is the minority of our workload.”
Contrary to popular opinion the force doesn’t deal with crime for the majority of time – less than a quarter of what we deal with is crime
David Crompton
The admission by the head of Britain’s 13th-largest force will shock many who insist crime fighting should be the primary role of police.
Last night, Roy Rudd of the UK Neighbourhood Watch Trust had sympathy with the situation but insisted people still want to see more ­officers on the beat.
He said: “I understand the increasing pressure on police. But what communities across Britain want is to have officers out and about fighting crime and not doing what is effectively social care work.
“There is still far too much bureaucracy and administrative red-tape restricting and hindering the police’s crime fighting work.
“We all want to see officers on the beat, it helps prevent crime and encourages people to report issues.
“But instead you generally now only see a community support officer walking the street – and they have such limited powers.”
Mr Crompton made his comments as he revealed falling crime figures in South Yorkshire despite £50million budget cuts over the next four years – with 500 job losses, including 200 police officer posts, over the next year.
The number of offences recorded between April and January has fallen by three per cent compared with the same period the year before.
The police chief admitted new inquiries into the Hillsborough disaster, and inquests due to begin in March, had taken resources away.
The force has also been scrutinised for the way it is dealing with child sexual exploitation in Rotherham.
Mr Crompton said: “It has been a tough time but people should be reassured we are still bringing crime down.”
Mr Rudd said he was ­“sceptical” about the figures as people no longer bothered reporting crime because they do not see it as worthwhile.
He added: “The only reason people report burglaries is to get a crime number for their insurance claim.”
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Red tape prevents police officers from tackling crime

I am not even going to comment on that BS. Afterall if I do I may hurt their
feelings ,and as they are now the thought police I could be in big trouble.

Plenty of time for Orwellian policing

Classic example Mitch, why were they sent there if there is no crime, why did they go and simply say to their (bus) inspector, it isn't a crime so leave it, another case of sheep in pigs clothing.