Up to 40,000 police jobs face axe, federation warns

Up to 40,000 frontline police jobs could be at risk if government funding cuts go ahead, the Police Federation warned today as Hampshire Constabulary became the latest force to reveal cuts. The force needs to save £70m over the next four years and will shed 1,400 posts. The loss of a fifth of its workforce will result in a reduction of hundreds of frontline officers. Kent police recently unveiled proposals to cut 1,500 jobs. Simon Reed, vice-chairman of the body that represents officers in England and Wales, said cuts of 25% would "devastate" the police service and it was inevitable that crime would rise. John Apter, chairman of the Hampshire branch of the federation warned that the cuts would damage the service. "We accept that there are difficult times ahead but … fewer officers will mean the force will have to stop doing certain things. "I have sympathy with the chief constable, he is trying to provide a service with his hands tied behind his back." But the policing and criminal justice minister, Nick Herbert, said: "I understand the Police Federation wants to make its case and protect every job, but we must be careful not to frighten the public. "Police forces can make savings. They can become more efficient. They can share services and procure equipment better." The Home Office said future funding for the police would be decided by the government's spending review, due in October. Last week the then head of Cambridgeshire police, Julie Spence, said the reductions could lead to a policing armageddon and warned that police could be reduced to a 999 emergency service. Ian Learmonth, the chief constable of Kent, said cuts were likely to reduce staff and officer numbers to levels not seen for a decade – and warned that crime could rise. The chief constable of Essex, Jim Barker-McCardle, has warned the funding cuts could force senior officers to "design a new blueprint" for policing. The force's policing budget could be reduced by £45m – about a sixth – by 2015 and hundreds of jobs might go, he said. However, he added, the cuts would give senior officers an opportunity to challenge the way things were done and forces would have to "rise up … and slay the last breaths of the fire-breathing monster of bureaucracy".