Police funding cuts must be stopped, says Wolverhampton MP Emma Reynolds

Cuts to police resources must be halted if forces are to be able to tackle rising crime rates, says Wolverhampton MP Emma Reynolds.

Emma Reynolds MP hosts a community meeting about crime and policiing, with, left, PCSO Stephen Cosford, and, right, PC Darren Barfield

Ms Emma Reynolds, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East, said the Government needed to listen to police chiefs and change course, while a city police officer said the only way to decrease crime was to boost the number of officers on the streets.

Speaking at a public meeting, PC Darren Barfield warned there was a risk of vigilantism and people giving up on reporting crime if apathy and frustration over response times was allowed to develop.

Ms Reynolds said she would continue to pressure Home Secretary Sajid Javid on police funding.

PC Barfield, a neighbourhood officer in Wednesfield, told a meeting organised by Ms Reynolds to discuss crime: "If I'm on Bentley Bridge, shoplifting will go down. That's a fact. It's a no-brainer."

He added: "People are getting frustrated and we know there is sometimes less intelligence coming through because people think there's no point. They're asking me to do a neighbourhood role and I'm saying this is what they are telling me. It helps me because I can say we need more resources."

Ms Reynolds said: "It is very frustrating, especially when you think things aren't moving· I hope things are starting to change and the penny is starting to drop. I hope the Home Secretary realises this is unsustainable."

Frustration

She continued: "The number of murders in London is frighteningly high and there have been a number in Wolverhampton as well. I think people are very concerned.

"Maybe at the start at these level of cuts they thought they weren't going to see what we see now but seven or eight years down the line it seems to be going that way."

PC Barfield also expressed frustration over the non-emergency 101 service, which has been dogged with complaints over call response times.

He said: "For whatever reason it's been hit and miss. It's been frustrating for us. We are having to recover people saying they have been on the phone for 20 minutes and hung up.

"But in the last two or three months there has been a revision of 101 call handlers. An awful lot of numbers have been moved into that role as far as I can see."