The thin blue line continues to get thinner still under the Tories
The thin blue line continues to get thinner still under the Tories

The thin blue line continues to get thinner as official statistics show that as police officer and PCSO numbers have fallen in the East of England, crime has soared.

ONS figures released on Thursday show that from June 2017 to June 2018, police recorded crime in the East of England increased by 8 per cent. Violent crime went up by 17 per cent, drug crime by 23 per cent and weapons possession by 16 per cent.

Since the Tories came to power in 2010, the number of police officers in the East of England has fallen by 1253, and the number of police community support officers has dropped by 854.

Our Parliamentary Candidate Rosie Newbigging said: “We can’t keep the East of England safe on the cheap. The Government is failing in their duty to protect the East, and keep our people safe.

“Since they came to power, the Tories have cut 11 per cent of our police officers and 58 per cent of our police community support officers from the East. Our force here is now desperately under staffed and overstretched.

“The appalling result is that in just a year violent crime went up by 17 per cent, drug crime by 23 per cent, and weapons possession by 16 per cent.

“This can’t go on. The figures show that this is a national problem – so it needs a national solution. If Theresa May really meant her promise to end austerity, then why isn’t she promising to cancel all the police cuts she has planned for the next four years? And why isn’t Grant Shapps calling for the cuts to be cancelled in November’s Budget?

“These figures are an awful indictment of the Tory cuts. The next Labour Government will recruit 10,000 new police officers to address this crisis.”

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