Is YOUR neighbourhood at risk? War on crime hit as police cash goes to fighting terrorism

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/657703/Police-shortages-increased-crime-cash-goes-fighting-terrorism

THE war on crime is under threat because overstretched police are focusing on fighting terrorism.

By James Fielding, Exclusive

PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sun, Apr 3, 2016 | UPDATED: 10:50, Sun, Apr 3, 2016

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The war on crime is under threat because overstretched police are focusing on fighting terrorism

Neighbourhood patrols are being scaled back because of staff cuts and resources needed to tackle the threat of Islamic extremists, the head of the Police Federation has warned.

Intelligence gathering on criminal networks behind some of the country’s worst gang violence has also suffered, according to Steve White. He said the Government had slashed officer numbers by 17,000 in four years leaving inadequate cover for other aspects of policing.

Such limited resources, he argued, had allowed street crime like shootings and stabbings to become a major problem again. Figures released last week revealed that more than 1,500 children were held for suspected firearms offences in the last three years.

The number of arrests rose by 20 per cent last year, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Mr White’s comments come as counter-terror police are set to recruit 1,000 extra armed officers, who will almost certainly be drawn from an already thin frontline.

If everything becomes a priority, nothing is a priority

Steve White, Police Federation

He said: “I think it’s fair to say that when you’ve taken 17,000 police officers out of the system something’s got to give, particularly when more effort is being put into counter terrorism and related police activity.

“It’s the more traditional side of policing that’s being affected, the patrolling, the neighbourhood policing, the proactive intelligence gathering, the knowledge of the local CID departments as to who was up to what.

“All of that kind of stuff has gone by the wayside because there is no resilience left in the service. It’s happened almost by stealth. Criminality tends to adapt, the fear of getting caught is a disincentive but the criminal underworld is likely to be very aware that in many areas of England and Wales, whereas before you’d occasionally see a police officer, now you rarely do at all.”

In London gang violence was up by 23 per cent last year with figures from the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime recording a 14 per cent rise in stabbings and a 16.5 per cent increase in gun crime.

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The number of arrests rose by 20 per cent last year

Since the start of last week in London a 22-year-old man was stabbed to death in front of his girlfriend over a £120 debt in North Finchley, a teenager was knifed in the street in Brixton and a man was shot in the arm in Seven Sisters.

Detectives are still investigating a drive-by shooting in Forest Gate on Good Friday that left one man fighting for life and four others wounded. It’s equally grim further North. Birmingham is in the grip of the worst gun crime wave in five years. The “Second City” is under intense police focus amid fears of an Islamic State-inspired terror cell.

Yet Dave Thompson, Deputy Chief Constable of the West Midlands, also warned recently that shootings in gang-plagued neighbourhoods such as Handsworth, Lozells and Hockley are occurring with “concerning regularity”.

In Manchester a spate of shootings at the start of the year – eight in 15 days – led to armed police patrols in the north and south of the city.

Last July’s murder of Paul Massey, a Salford gangster and drug dealer known, led to a number of revenge shootings, including that of a seven-year-old boy and his mother.

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