Police cuts in Kingston

Metropolitan police staff in UK being drastically reduced due to the financial circumstances.
The expectation is to have budget cut and costs reduced over the next few years.

The police forces are preparing to lose 7,400 officers as well as 1,300 community officers and 3,500 other staff. In Kingston alone number of officers will be decreased by 45 percent and will keep decreasing until 2018.

Mike Cunninham, in charge of inspection, said: “The next five years will be more challenging for forces as they strive to make further reductions in budgets and workforce, while dealing with increasingly complex crime. Policing is entering uncharted waters.”

HMIC research suggested the evidence between falling police numbers and crime rates. The higher police numbers the lower level of property crime, the evidence for a link with violence crime is weaker.

Kingston University Students now feel more threatened and unsecure as police numbers keep reducing.

Rosheen Mirza,21,MA psychology student said: “I feel a bit more threatened to go out at night in Kingston now as there is no police, it’s actually ridiculous when I heard that police number were reduced I think it is really bad, because I don’t think there is enough of them around as it is. This is student place after all and it needs to have security. Something can happen if the reduction will continue.”

However, Home offices haven’t made further notice of funding the police forces from 2016. This depends on government decisions later.

Georgia Beadel, 21, financial Business and mathematics student said: “If I was walking around at night by myself, I would feel vulnerable, especially being a girl. For the past 2 years being at university it’s been good as you always see police officers walking around, so you know they are there for you. But so far I have barely seen any, and it’s more unnerving to be walking around at night, even to and from university.”

Even though police patrolling the streets may not reduce the crimes, it will give student a peace of mind that there is security for them on the streets.

Kingston police force stated that they are back, once again backing police in their extra efforts to make Town Centre streets safe this Christmas.

Marcus Wright, 20, Media and cultural studies, student said: “You need police to patrol the streets of Kingston to stop crimes as they happen rather than police being called out. I’m more of a target as I’m not the most masculine man, therefore they should be police out there to defend vulnerable members of a public.”

Last year in Kingston two men suffered with head injury due to the homophobic attack. It was reported that two men was walking along Victoria Road and as they passed a group of two men and three women, one male from the group attacked them.

Statistics show that violence towards another person in Kingston had raised compared with the last year. Records show in 2014 – 263 attacks and in 2015 – 270 attacks. Homophobic crimes: in 2014 – 4 crimes and in 2015 – 6 crimes.