1,000 signatures reached
To: Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Sussex Police
Police Officers or PCSOs for Sussex Police?
Prioritise the recruitment of Police Officers over Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).
Why is this important?
I retired as a Sussex Police Officer in 2009 after more than 31 years of service. At the time of my retirement, I held the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent, Head of the Sussex CID. Prior to this I was the Divisional Commander for Brighton and Hove. Having retired as a police officer I joined the S.E. Regional Organised Crime Unit, still working in an operational policing function, fully retiring in January of this year. This means that I have a total of almost 40 years policing service. This experience as a police officer and subsequently as a police staff member was wide and varied which I believe enables me to speak with some authority on policing.
I am a member of a large group of other retired officers who remain in contact with each other through social media. Although we are retired, without exception, we still care about Sussex Police and the service that it provides to the local communities within the County.
We, probably along with large numbers of the public, have become increasingly concerned regarding the ability of Sussex Police to be able to respond to incidents reported by the public. Indeed, this issue has been recently publicised by officers currently serving with the Force. They have a genuine concern that the low numbers of front line police officers available may lead to the safety of the public and the officers themselves being compromised. This concern is not exaggerated and is not scaremongering as some current senior officers would have us all believe but is a genuine fear based on their professional experiences.
This fear is hardly surprising. Police officer numbers in Sussex have fallen from 3,200 to a little over 2,500 between 2010 and today. Whilst the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Katy Bourne, has secured a considerable increase in funding for the new financial year of 2018/2019, through a rise in our Council Tax precept, she and the Chief Constable, Giles York, intend to recruit around 140 additional PCSOs in order to boost Neighbourhood Policing Teams. Whilst this may assist in increasing a uniform visibility, PCSOs do not possess the powers of police officers and therefore cannot deal with the types of incidents that officers can respond to. This is not designed to undermine the work of PCSOs, but this issue should be about increasing the numbers of police officers.
Whilst Sussex are recruiting large numbers of PCSOs, our neighbours in Kent are looking to take on an additional 200 police officers. Other forces within the country are also looking to increase police officer numbers similarly through reducing numbers of PCSOs including Lincolnshire.
We therefore pose the question as to why Sussex are choosing to recruit extra PCSOs when the Force are struggling to attend incidents reported by you, the public. The time taken for officers to attend incidents reported by the public has increased considerably in recent times. This is despite the fact that officers no longer attend certain crime types that they used to such as household burglary or other incidents determined to no longer require the attendance of a police officer. We, as retired officers, believe that this is not right or appropriate and therefore the public are being let down.
Therefore, we argue that the time is now right to challenge the decision making of the PCC and the Chief Constable. We would ask that you, the public, join us in attempting to achieve this change in thinking.
I am a member of a large group of other retired officers who remain in contact with each other through social media. Although we are retired, without exception, we still care about Sussex Police and the service that it provides to the local communities within the County.
We, probably along with large numbers of the public, have become increasingly concerned regarding the ability of Sussex Police to be able to respond to incidents reported by the public. Indeed, this issue has been recently publicised by officers currently serving with the Force. They have a genuine concern that the low numbers of front line police officers available may lead to the safety of the public and the officers themselves being compromised. This concern is not exaggerated and is not scaremongering as some current senior officers would have us all believe but is a genuine fear based on their professional experiences.
This fear is hardly surprising. Police officer numbers in Sussex have fallen from 3,200 to a little over 2,500 between 2010 and today. Whilst the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Katy Bourne, has secured a considerable increase in funding for the new financial year of 2018/2019, through a rise in our Council Tax precept, she and the Chief Constable, Giles York, intend to recruit around 140 additional PCSOs in order to boost Neighbourhood Policing Teams. Whilst this may assist in increasing a uniform visibility, PCSOs do not possess the powers of police officers and therefore cannot deal with the types of incidents that officers can respond to. This is not designed to undermine the work of PCSOs, but this issue should be about increasing the numbers of police officers.
Whilst Sussex are recruiting large numbers of PCSOs, our neighbours in Kent are looking to take on an additional 200 police officers. Other forces within the country are also looking to increase police officer numbers similarly through reducing numbers of PCSOs including Lincolnshire.
We therefore pose the question as to why Sussex are choosing to recruit extra PCSOs when the Force are struggling to attend incidents reported by you, the public. The time taken for officers to attend incidents reported by the public has increased considerably in recent times. This is despite the fact that officers no longer attend certain crime types that they used to such as household burglary or other incidents determined to no longer require the attendance of a police officer. We, as retired officers, believe that this is not right or appropriate and therefore the public are being let down.
Therefore, we argue that the time is now right to challenge the decision making of the PCC and the Chief Constable. We would ask that you, the public, join us in attempting to achieve this change in thinking.
