Thursday, 9 January 2014

It has been revealed that 400 jobs are to be cut from Northumbria Police in the latest round of budget cuts, the force has been ordered to save £46m which would be met by the dismissal of staff.

Despite this announcement the force insist that they still aim to retain the numbers of police officers on the beat. Police & Crime Commissioner Vera Baird stated that "The Government cuts are relentless and unfair. They impact far more heavily on our police service than on many others. The Cheif Constable and I are very committed to maintaining the number of police officers and staff working in our neighbourhoods"

While vowing not cut the volume of officers on the beat, they have put forward proposals to meet this gargantuan cut by making use of emerging technologies that will save time, move to different buildings and amalgamate community based teams, such as the Neighbourhood Policing Team, within currently existing institutions.

Preceding this release, Northumbria Police has already met a target to cut £58m from it's operational budget and they insist that although the order to save more has been placed, all areas of the police service will be scrunitinised before jobs are staff volumes are reduced.