The Chair of Cleveland Police Authority has warned that the year ahead promises to be ‘tougher than ever’ but that the drive to continue bringing down crime and increasing public confidence will continue.
Councillor Dave McLuckie was speaking after Police Authority members has re-elected him as Chair for a fifth year. Also re-elected unopposed as Vice Chair was Mr Peter Race MBE.
With crime figures in Cleveland at a record low and the Cleveland force enjoying one of the highest public confidence levels in the country, Councillor McLuckie said it would be easy to assume that ‘everything in the garden is rosy’ but the reality was very different.
Explained the Police Authority “Quite rightly there is enormous pride within the Authority, the Force—and indeed the public we serve—that together we have transformed Cleveland Police in recent years. The figures speak for themselves—annual crime in 2009 was down by 13 per cent and at its lowest level in the 20 years for which we hold records.
“Yet we can never rest on laurels...and certainly not now as we move into an era when—in common with every other public service—policing will face financial pressures on a scale we have not experienced before. In the worst possible case, it could mean our budget being cut by £30million a year by 2015.
“The choice we face is stark—see the progress we have achieved over recent years disappear or learn to do things better and smarter. We are not alone in this dilemma—across the country authorities and forces are grappling with the same problem. Only this week, for example, it was reported that one force could see 500 job losses.
“In Cleveland we have made progress because we have been prepared to adopt new approaches—including working with partners, both public and private. It is an approach which has delivered some of the best buildings in the country, released more officers for front-line policing through civilianising custody services and provided our officers on the beat with the latest mobile information technology.
“We believe that a willingness to consider new ideas will be even more important in the future which is why we are considering working with a private sector partner in delivering some support services. The status quo is not an option—and I believe that the route we are considering is far preferable than seeing hundreds of staff losing their jobs and our service to the public deteriorating.”