Need a properly funded police service to help counter crime

There are regular concerns raised in the local community about crime. Crime has always been with us. The difference today is that every incident is amplified a hundred fold on social media to often misrepresent the overall situation.A mood of hysteria can develop, which exaggerates the real threat. There seems to be a tendency to leap to criticise the police whenever a crime is committed, which is difficult to understand. I have great sympathy for the police, they have had resources quite deliberately cut by successive governments over the past decade. This is in a period of growing demands from cyber crime to the present calls to enforce Covid laws. Yet, they are also expected by the public to do this and more, stopping all the more traditional crimes as well, with less resources. Police are not the answer to crime, their role is essentially that of social refuse collectors. They deal with the effects, not the causes of crime. The grotesque inequalities in our society, with growing numbers of have nots, is no doubt helping to fuel more crime - it is a political, not policing issue. The rhetoric about crime when joined together with a lack of resourcing for the police creates a perfect storm for private security companies to cash in. They offer their services, which worried people buy into. These companies have no more powers to act than a private citizen. If they come across a crime they have to call the police. Yet they charge for their presence. Yes, that presence may help deter criminals for those who are able to pay but it is not a substitute for an accountable fully resourced police service for all. The growth of private security operations is ofcourse something those who cut resourcing for the police force, no doubt had in mind in the first instance. If this path continues we will end up with a system of policing prefaced on ability to pay. If you cannot pay you will get the basic minimum, which will be an ever more under resourced police service. If you can pay then a security company will be able to keep your area under constant surveillance. There will be more gated communities, restricting freedom of movement - not an attractive prospect. The world of haves and have nots writ big. What is needed is better resourcing of the police. Yes the community should have more say in the way their area is policed. There are ways to get involved in that process, such as ward panels, which bring together citizens, with the police and local councillors to discuss priorities. There is the Street Watch scheme, whereby local people can work together with the police and council to help ensure the safety of the area. A greater police presence would no doubt help restore the link between community and police. The shutting of local police stations in Wanstead and most recently in South Woodford does not help but again resources and the lack of an active voice from the people allows this to happen. So moving forward let us come together to counter crime, Oppose the cuts to policing, come forward to take part in the community policing process and look out for each other.