Calls for More Police in Norfolk

7.18.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 22nd Sep 2008

Norfolk has the sixth lowest ratio of police officers to population in the country according to latest Home Office figures. The figures reveal that this year for every 100,000 people in Norfolk there are just 190 police officers - a slight decline over the last three years.

Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South, is calling for more police on patrol across Norfolk. Mr Wright said:

"We have one of the largest geographical areas for a police force to cover, and yet one of the lowest ratios of police per person in the country. Although we have relatively low crime rates, the dispersed nature of the county means that we need more police officers than the average force - not fewer. As a result, there is a perception that people living in Norfolk feel vulnerable and unprotected because police visibility is not as high as it is elsewhere."

"Norfolk Police have done all they can with the resources available to them, but they have been facing very tight demands on their budget over a number of years. The funding settlement for Norfolk police has not kept up with new Government initiatives and inflation."

"The Government must look at reallocating spending to boost police numbers in areas such as Norfolk, and also cut bureaucracy so that our officers can spend more time on the beat."

The Liberal Democrats at their Bournemouth conference last week discussed policy proposals to increase the number of police officers by 10,000 paid for by scrapping ID cards, reducing central targets, and introducing local setting of priorities and budgets and the direct election of the majority of police authority members.