Newcastle Labour

The City could see a big cut in ‘bobbies on the beat’ if the Government goes ahead with public expenditure cuts a leading Newcastle Labour Councillor warned this week.

The warning comes from Stephen Lambert, Labour’s spokesman on Community Safety on the City Council, who this week has tabled a written question to Councillor Anita Lower, the Council’s Executive Spokesperson for Public Protection about the matter.

Councillor Lambert believes that scores of police beat officers and community support officers are under threat from predicted cuts in public services and that crime could start to rise again in some parts of the City.

He said: “Cuts to police budgets in the region could have serious strategic and operational implications for policing and community safety in Newcastle with a worrying sign that crime could go up”.

“Crime is down by 6% and this has been made possible because of the significant investment the last Government put into neighbourhood policing.  The number of police officers in the city went up from 714 in 2008 to 814 last year.  Newcastle’s residents want these frontline officers protected from spending cuts.  Neighbourhood police teams are now set up in every part of the city and it would be tragic if these teams were to fold”, he added.