Thursday, 9 January 2014

Following the announcement of a £25m funding cut it April, West Midlands Police have announced that the drive to recruit 450 new police officers will be put on hold.

The West Midlands Police Commissioner, Bob Jones stated that even though this was the case "...there is alot of water to pass under the bridge between now and then. However, the news is not good."

This planned recruitment drive of 450 would have been the first influx of officers for four years, now this has been called off, the concequences could be worse than this seems.

Has this recruitment drive gone ahead, the forces numbers would have then been at an acceptable level. During the four years of recruitment stagnation, officer numbers have dwindled because of retirement and officers moving to other forces.

Chief Constable Chris Sims reiterated "These will not be additional resources"

Both Mr Jones and Mr Sims have been shocked by the inclusion of an extra £4m in the cuts, although this would need to be confirmed at the end of the month.