Police cuts 'may encourage crime'

By Claire Ennis

An increasing perception of police forces being stretched as a result of cuts could, in turn, encourage more people to commit crime, experts have claimed.

The Government is imposing a 20% cut in budgets and is reviewing officers' pay, with some warning this could lead to thousands of job losses. Economist Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay has warned that "the perception that police are stretched may encourage more criminals to increase crime, which would indeed stretch the police".

But his study, published by think-tank Civitas, found that the improving crime detection rates can lead to a visible reduction in crime, which can improve the perception of an area and lead to lower home insurance premiums and higher house prices.

The analysis discovered that a 1% rise in crime detection rates leads to 6,000 fewer burglaries, as well as 22,500 fewer theft and handling offences and 2,300 fewer incidents of violent crime. Dr Bandyopadhyay said: "Improved detection rates not only have a direct impact by reducing current crime; they also lower future crime."

But the Home Office said the relationship between the numbers of police and levels of crime was not simple, with only 11% of officers visible to the public at any one time. A spokesman said: "What really matters is how effectively officers are deployed."