Victims of crime are being failed in the most damaging way, admits top police officer

Victims of crime are being failed “in the most damaging way and this must change” one of Britain's top police officers will today claim.

Nick Smart, President of the Police Superintendents’ Association, will tell policing minister Diana Johnson that a “perfect storm” has left the criminal justice system “broken” as he urges the government to reverse “years of under investment  and devaluing of the workforce” that has ripped apart the criminal justice system.

Delivering his presidential address to the Association's annual conference, Supt Smart will warn Dame Johnson: “We are doing all we can, and ‘all we can’ is not enough, because we are operating on a shoestring.

Victims are being failed in the most damaging way and this must change.  The sheer frustration that colleagues at all ranks and in all departments feel at being unable to provide victims with the service they deserve is palpable.”

The senior officer will urge for a move towards better working between police and government, insisting that forces need “sustainable funding” to reverse the decline.

He will add: “This is a time to lay a marker, and show us that things will be different, that we will no longer face year on year of underinvestment, our calls for change will not be ignored, and we will finally start to feel both valued and respected.

“No one knows policing better than your workforce. Let us help you get it right. Let’s start afresh with a blank canvas for policing where the key stakeholders who know about policing – your workforce, those who live it every day, are listened to.”

Supt Smart is set to also highlight the impact of the recent riots that tore across the county in the wake of the Southport stabbings. He will explain how police forces were pushed beyond breaking point as they attempted to mobilise emergency public order officers to protect their communities whilst still being required to deliver their extensive day to day duties.

He will explain to the minister that the use of language used by politicians with regards to officer numbers “does not reflect reality” telling her that forces have seen an average increase of just six extra officers per year since 2010.

As a result many working on the frontline feel their service has become “taken for granted” and he will question where policing sits amongst national priorities. And he will also call for a definition of the police mission to prevent forces losing resources to deal with non-police matters.