I make of it police lobbying for more money for the police. There isnt a problem the police dont think can be solved by more money for the police.
Ex army generals do a good line in this too.
ETA: The police have been cut a lot, and its clear a lot of crime is going uninvestigated, even when theres plenty of evidence.
There is certainly an aspect of that, but it really needs to be appreciated how much has actually been cut over the past ten years (and of course the process is continuing apace).
For example, Lambeth fourteen years ago had three sub-command stations (Streatham, Brixton, Kennington) that response teams worked out of as well as several other subsidary stations (Gipsy Hill, Cavendish Road, even Clapham Road for a brief time)that had SNTs and other units - as well as a considerable number of police staff in the control room, station officers and acting as gaolers which meant that those roles didn't need to be covered by a PC for most of the time.
First the communications staff (which at that time would have been 2 controllers and 6-8 communications officers per shift) went up to what was then Metcall, many of them left, were only partially replaced (by people on worse terms and conditions) and now their functions are covered by one controller and three communications officers (some of whom are police officers because of losses to police staff). Then many of the subsidary stations were sold off, the sub-commands merged and followed eventually by Streatham being sold as well and Kennington closing for most of the time (and being next on the list to go, it seems). Station officers were got rid of (either retired, took voluntary redundancy or accepted worse terms and became PCSOs - though the role has been brought back now) and the gaolers found themselves transferred to the centralized Met Detention command. The loss of police staff was especially crippling because many of the roles they used to fill did not go away and someone (ie: a police officer) had to be found to fill them. Meanwhile the response teams themselves went from having 2-3 Inspectors, 3-6 Sergeants and probably around 50 PCs per shift to about two thirds of that, and had to cover a wider area than before. Now Lambeth itself is being amalgamated with Southwark, seemingly because of the recognition that borough-based policing is financially unsustainable and this is the only way the Met can deliver a similar level of service.
This has happened all over London and apparently things are even worse in the counties. There has been an awful lot of good work and effort put into trying to improve the service that people get from the Police despite these cuts (body-worn video, the recent improvements to 101 and expanding the ways in which people can report things to name three) and many of the officers are working far more than they used to (which is not to say that they were lazy before, more that there was more of the downtime that is a healthy if not fundamental thing in any emergency service), but no organization can continue after sustaining the hits that have been recieved ever since Boris became Mayor in 2008 and the Coalition winning the 2010 GE. Sadly the results are now becoming obvious to all.
