May 'destroying' police service (From Wandsworth Guardian)
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May 'destroying' police service
12:04am Wednesday 16th May 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013
Theresa May's reforms will destroy the police service, according to the Police Federation
The Home Secretary is "on the precipice of destroying a police service that is admired and replicated throughout the world", according to rank-and-file officers.
Theresa May's reforms, some of the most radical changes in more than 30 years, will fundamentally change the dynamics of policing, said the Police Federation.
The warning comes as Mrs May prepares to address the federation's annual conference in Bournemouth less than a week after 30,000 officers marched through London to protest against changes to pay, terms and conditions.
The last time police took to the streets, then-home secretary Jacqui Smith was ridiculed at the same conference as she was blamed for a high-profile pay dispute in January 2008.
Paul McKeever, the federation's chairman, will tell Mrs May: "This is a bad deal for the police service.
"We have less resilience, fewer warranted officers, a weakened front line and a radically altered model of British policing. You are on the precipice of destroying a police service that is admired and replicated throughout the world."
He will add: "Home Secretary, we are seeing proposals, things being put in place without infrastructure, that will fundamentally change the dynamics of policing.
"You cannot expect officers, those who understood the fiscal situation and accepted that some cuts were necessary, to take an unfair share of the cuts and just sit there and be content with their lot."
