Kevin Hurley, Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, has today commented on the Autumn Spending Review, following the announcement that there will be no real-term cuts to police funding.
Kevin Hurley said:
“I am very pleased that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been listening to the outcry from me and others in the past few weeks, and has made a complete U-turn on Police spending cuts. Following the atrocities in Paris and the consequent need for increased security all over Europe, it would have been irresponsible to reduce the number of officers in the community who are not only the eyes and ears of counter terrorism policing, but invariably first on the scene when something truly terrible happens.
“I have also made it clear that there are insufficient armed police units and that their weapons need updating to give them the firepower to combat any ISIS attack.
“In Surrey, as everywhere else in the country, we are experiencing dramatic and extreme changes in the nature of crime. Increased resources are needed not only in public protection, but also in online crime and visible policing. Child Protection cases are up 450% this year, Child Sexual Exploitation has risen by 115% and Honour Based Violence is up by 400%.
“The proposal to cut our ability to fight these evils in our society was never justifiable, and now we can breathe a great sigh of relief at this change of heart from George Osborne.
“However, a great opportunity has been missed. We still have 43 police forces – this is a silly business model. I have always said that I would like to be the first Police and Crime Commissioner to be made redundant. I still feel the same way.”