Avon & Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Sue Mountstevens @AandSPCC, how is she spending her £280m annual budget? New £16m Black Rock firing range burned down, police investigate a claim on Bristol Indymedia it was done by anarchists but was it agents provocateurs? Decriminalisation of drugs. 63 year old blind man Colin Farmer who was Tasered then hospitalised for several months. Eighth person, Jordan Begley from Manchester, to be killed by a police Taser in July 2013. The horrors of the 50,000 volt taser. The privatisation of the police, and Marina Morris's voxpop on policing and privatisation.
Jobs risk warning over police cutback
Thursday, July 04, 2013
CRIME commissioner Sue Mountstevens has warned that cutbacks to Avon and Somerset Police unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne will be "painful", with around 200 jobs on the line.
The Government's Comprehensive Spending Review announcement last week revealed that central support for the force was to be slashed in a move that would lead to savings of nearly £15 million needing to be found over the next two years.
A consultation exercise is now under way to gauge whether people are prepared to pay more council tax to take up the slack. Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Ms Mountstevens said: "There is no question that cuts of this scale will be painful to the organisation and will be felt by residents.
"Finding further significant savings of nearly £15 million over the next two years will mean fundamental changes to policing and tough decisions about what we do in the future. It will also mean fewer police officers and staff, with over 200 more policing posts now at risk to meet required savings.
"Over the coming weeks, we will be working through the detail of the Government's announcement. I will be talking to the public about the tough decisions we face and I will carry out a full discussion with residents about any possible increases to the policing part of the council tax to protect frontline officers.
"Clearly, there are huge challenges ahead -- however the priority remains to keep residents safe and feeling safe and that will be my focus."
People are being asked to have their say on the policing part of their council tax bill online at http://www.consultation.avonandsomerset.police.uk or at local events -- details of which are at www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk.
The questionnaire gives people the option of agreeing to different levels of council tax rise -- from a freeze up to ten per cent.
The biggest rise would cost average band D householders an extra £16.80 a year, and pay for an additional 189 officers or 284 PCSOs.
http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Jobs-risk-warning-police-cutback/story-19477604-detail/story.html
