Mayor under attack again over axing PCSOs

“About 5 years ago I took a day trip to Central London and did not spot one Policeman all day. On my return to Bristol I was passing by on the floor level at the Mall that has the cluster of restaurants and sensed something different and had to stop to take it in. It was a traditional Bobby looking over the rail to the floor below. He was the first Policeman I had ever seen at the Mall and have not spotted another there since.”

“Here is the latest update: http://tinyurl.com/asll5zc”

“The reason that Bristol has PCSOs funded by the council is that just as they were about to be deployed about 6 yrs ago and after the detailed plans had been made the then government reduced the number that they would fund from year 2 onwards. So in other words they would pay the first year and then the local police authority would have to make up the difference.
Avon and Somerset suffers unfairly because of an anomily on calculations on budgets and is able to put out less police officers on the streets of Bristol than other forces in similar cities.
They faced a very tough choice.
With support from colleagues I did a deal to allow the full compliment to be deployed and to be fair to the Labour party when they were the administration a year later when the bill came in they paid up and the force has been maintained with some slight trimming since then.
We asked for and generally got a very good return on that investment with PCSOs doing some jobs that council staff would have had to do and the good partnership has been a key factor contributing to Bristol's much better than average fall in crime.
Of comparable cities we used to have the worst crime stats but now we are better than average.

So why are they so valuable.

They stay in the community they serve and are not tranfered away at a moments notice.

They do a lot of the basic time consuming jobs that free up fully warrented officers to do some of the bigger tasks.

They are that valuable uniformed presence on the street.

They break down barriers of distrust that some communities had with the police.

They are much cheaper per head.

All of this seems to have passed the Mayor by completely.They are not the only reason but they are a very important contributor to our success and the shortsighted budget proposal will cost Bristol very dear in years to come if not changed.

What though is very much the case is that Ms Mountstevens should fully recognise that Bristol city council has for some years done far more to help combat crime than other councils in Avon and Somerset and despite her budget squeeze she has to be prepared to help Us.”

“Robert, PCSO have a power of arrest under common law, as we have. Its not for all offences as not all are covered, but their powers appear to be sufficient. They are more cost effective in the community roles which do not require high level training or resources, there is an argument to that their role is not policing rather community reassurance and safety.”

“@Robert, PCSO have a power of arrest under common law, as we have. Its not for all offences as not all are covered, but their powers appear to be sufficient. They are more cost effective in the community roles which do not require high level training or resources, there is an argument to that their role is not policing rather community reassurance and safety.”

“Surely it is better to have proper coppers who have the powers of arrest and the training that the PCSO's do not have especially when the consideration is for public safety.”

“@Joke, you're at it again. Your hatred of the Labour Party is still causing you real problems; the story is about a LibDem commenting on the intentions of Gorgeous George, with comments from the Police Commissioner and the fragrant Dawn a local MP with an interest in crime reduction for her constituents.

How does this become a "handful of Labour activists on Twitter" in you febrile mind?

Do you think reducing the level of visible police is a good idea?

Yes, I know I am nothing, but at least my GCSE level slogans are coherent and rational, (A*) material, me. Pip pip.”

“'The mayor has caused a storm of protests since revealing his proposed budget for next year which includes £35 million cuts.'

Has he? Or has it been the handful of Labour activists on Twitter that you seem to copy and paste and deem to be news?

Up your game Evening Post.”