Since Theresa May became Home Secretary in 2010, police numbers have plummeted by 14% to the lowest figure since March 1985.  Here in Nottinghamshire, we have 1910 police officers, down 15% since 2010. This means that local law enforcement and crime prevention is now weak and wobbly.

While most crime may have declined in over the last few years, in recent months there has been a noticeable increase in petty crime and vandalism. You just have to read the Worksop Guardian or Retford Times to see the rise in the number of incidents that are being reported locally, just the sort of crime regular patrols by the police, on foot and in cars would help to prevent.

According to Theresa May, the reason why they have cut the numbers of police is to save money.  However, this is a false economy as the cost of investigating offences and the prosecuting of them is much greater.  At least it would be if the police had the manpower to investigate such crimes and this is the issue.

Too many crimes are reported (to get a crime number for insurance claims) but go no further as the police are too over stretched to look into them.  Because the custody suite in Worksop has been closed, the police are loathed to arrest people for minor crimes as it would take them off the streets for 2 – 3 hours to take someone down to Mansfield, process them there and then get back to patrol in Bassetlaw.  Minor (but very dangerous) crimes like riding unlicensed motor bikes (a real curse where I live) are simply ignored because the police force has no one to look into the problem.

This is why the Liberal Democrats have pledged to “Increase community policing in England and Wales by giving an additional £300 million a year to local police forces to reverse the increase in violent crime, boost community confidence and increase the flow of community intelligence.” (Page 72, Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2017)

Today, we are launching a petition to ask the next MP for Bassetlaw to support this policy and to call for more police on our streets here in our community.  You can sign it on Saturday at our street stall in Retford. Alternatively, sign the More Police for Bassetlaw petition here.