In light of the London Riots police numbers should not be cut further

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In light of the London Riots police numbers should not be cut further

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In the wake of the death of Mark Duggan on Thursday 4th of August, Tottenham erupted in violence on the evening of Saturday 6th. By Sunday it had spread to Brixton. Monday saw Lewisham and Clapham Junction similarly engulfed. It is clear that the Metropolitan Police Service, in particular, and the West Midlands Constabulary have been over-stretched whilst doing an admirable job of trying to contain the violence.

On Monday 8th, Theresa May – the Home Secretary – described the riots as ‘sheer criminality’ and said that those responsible will be brought to justice. Impressive sounding rhetoric it may be, but how can the government be ‘tough on crime’ if it is cutting 16,200 officers, 16,100 civilian staff and 1,800 PCSOs over the next four years (source: HMIC, ‘Adapting to Austerity’, 2011)? Public Order policing will also inevitably be impacted on.

These cuts are endangering public safety - perhaps absolute numbers should actually be increasing.

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