Agree on closing police stations, but police numbers are not the problem. The basis of the problem is that the police are now organised into specialist task specific squads to please their political masters desires. They no longer work for the public, instead working for the politicians and their current policies.
Thus we have the anti-terrorism squads investigating that full time.
The Firearm squads roaming looking for suitable incidents to attend.
The anti-gang specialist squads.
Murder Squads.
The Sapphire Squads who specialise in sex crimes, mostly pursuing geriatrics for long past crimes since it makes the conviction rate look good.
Large numbers engaged on time consuming drug offences.
Plus numerous officers tied down in administering the over 60,000 people on the Sex Offences Register. They have to interview at police stations every one put on the register initially and annually and record a large list of information every time. They also have to visit all those on the register in their homes at least once a year and far more often when they are assessed as being possibly high risk. The amount of police time taken up by the register is immense.
You'll gather that I've worked with the police previously and have police friends including a neighbour who is a police officer and my closest friend in the area, so I have a good understanding of their problems and the causes.
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