Deputy Rob Ward’s comments follow a damning report on police morale, in which 64 per cent said they would not recommend working for the organisation to a friend and one in five said they intended to leave the force within a year. The Deputy’s concerns also come after news that police numbers had fallen by over 20 per cent in the past ten years.
‘I have significant concerns over the level of staffing of uniformed services,’ Deputy Ward said.
‘I do not believe that we can sustain the service our Island needs with further cuts.’
Deputy Ward has submitted several written and oral questions to the Home Affairs Minister seeking clarification on whether the paid police force might face further job cuts.
‘It is apparent that there is no clarity over the future cuts to services, given the proposed £30 million of savings through vacancy management,’ he said. ‘This lack of certainty adds to my concerns.
‘Further, I have serious concerns over what type of service will be left after implementation of a target-operating model that seems to focus on efficiencies as a priority.’
Home Affairs Minister Len Norman has said that crime is declining in Jersey and that while there are fewer police officers, they are working smarter by using new technologies.
But the most recent crime statistics show the number of crimes in six out of nine categories increased between the first and second quarter of this year, as police numbers dropped to 190.
Overall, crimes reported jumped more than 20 per cent, with 671 reported in the first three months of the year and 875 in the second quarter.
The figures show that between April and June there was a rise in sexual offences, domestic crime, malicious damage, vehicle crime, cycle theft and, critically, night-time economy (NTE) violence.
Seven years ago the police took action to tackle night-time violence, particularly in St Helier, with more officers on the beat. A strategy called Operation Visible saw the number of serious assaults fall by 30 per cent.
But, anecdotally, the police are reporting they are now woefully short on some shifts. The force will not release figures detailing the lowest number of officers that have been on a shift in recent months, due to fears it would compromise safety.
According to the performance statistics, NTE violence more than doubled between the first and second quarter of this year – from 25 to 68 incidents.
Police response times to the most serious incidents, while still under their targets, have increased. According to the most recent figures, the average response time for the first six months of 2018 was 7 minutes and 3 seconds. That is within the ten-minute target. The average response time for 2015, when the force carried 222 officers, was 5 minutes and 48 seconds.
The response time for lower-priority incidents now sits at almost 19 minutes and 40 seconds, comfortably within the 60-minute target but almost nine minutes slower than the average seen in
2015.
Deputy Ward said he was not convinced that any of the uniformed services were adequately staffed.
‘We need to be clear about the specific nature of Jersey, as an island community, and the accompanying need for flexibility for our uniformed services,’ he said.
‘We need to support the vital and professional work of our uniformed services, not create uncertainty and look for a race to the bottom, as has been so evident in the UK.’
