Police forces no longer able to protect public as 5,800 frontline officers cut by 2015 Nearly 6,000 fewer police officers will be on the beat by 2015 as a result of government cuts with some forces no longer able to protect the public, it was warned today. Some 5,800 fewer frontline officers will be on the streets by 2012 Photo: ALAMY 10:32AM BST 02 Jul 2012 A fifth of front counters in police stations will also close, the report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found. There will be 5,800 fewer frontline officers, but the proportion of officers on the frontline will increase to between 81 per cent and 95 per cent as the number of non-frontline officers is almost halved, with 7,600 going by 2015, the report said. Some 137 police access counters, such as in libraries and supermarkets, will also open to help offset the closure of 264 front desks. The figures do not include those for Britain's biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, or for Cheshire, as they have not yet produced their plans. In the last year, the overall police workforce has been reduced by 17,600 officers and staff, more than half of the total reductions planned by March 2015, the inspectorate added. The Met was named as one of three forces which may not be able to provide an efficient or effective service for the public in the future. "In our professional judgment (and having considered local context, including police cost to the taxpayer), there is a risk that three forces may not be able to provide a sufficiently efficient or effective service for the public in the future," the inspectorate's report said. These were Lincolnshire and Devon & Cornwall, as well as the Met, the HMIC said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...c-as-5800-frontline-officers-cut-by-2015.html
Do people employ private security companies, Vis? The other night, I heard a woman screaming on the road. I ran out and shouted and she was bundled into a white BM that sped off. 4 police vans arrived in minutes. Security after almost 30. Pathetic for a private company.
Ah, Rust, I now get your point and Vis'. Yes, they don't actively defend. Then again, when have they ever? What police department has ever effectively prevented crime? People have to call them to a crime scene. They then attempt to solve a crime. In my country, law enforcement is about state coffers. How much you can milk people even more? I suppose that is why I support vigilante justice. A mum finds her child being raped and murders the sod. That is justice and no police are needed.
Around here it would probably be the exact opposite, unless you live next to a donut shop or a mini mart that has a woman working the check out. Cops love to hang out in mini marts and try to pick up the check out girl. But most people here are armed, so we don't need private security. Just the rich and businesses hire them. A woman screaming in the road would have 3-5 armed men stepping out on their front porches to see what is going on.
Bob, I was at home with my 14 year old. We have to keep our guns in the safe AT ALL TIMES! Fat lot of good that's going to do, hey? Anyway, 14 year old grabbed a bat but couldn't get close to the BM. I wish I hadn't shouted. People here are poop scared. We were her only saviours and couldn't do a damn thing. At least 50 houses and her running down the street screaming for help and it was just a mum and child who ran out to help. God help all of us. Now I suppose my IlRags will be beating up on me about all the years he's loved me and warned me to get the f out. :)
Getting out while you can afford to would be the smartest thing to do. I know it is your home, but you have kids to think about, grandkids one day hopefully. How much worse is SA going to be in 5 years? in 10 or 20? Whites in SA are surrounded and outnumbered. Don't pull a Stalingrad, retreat and rebuild. Short of a nuclear armed mini state, there is no hope in SA.