Members of the Police Federation have attacked David Blunkett's plans to allow community groups to hire their own beat police officers
Home Secretary David Blunkett's vision of an 'extended police family' is under attack from members of the Police Federation, who have criticised the politician over his plans to let community groups hire beat officers for a fee.

Under Blunkett's scheme, householders could band together to pay around £10,000 for an officer to patrol their neighbourhood, with the Government picking up the remainder of the officer's 'wages' for the task.

In a statement issued to SMT from the Home Office, Mr Blunkett said: "The rich can already pay for private security. We want to make it easier for local people in a particular street or community to be able to raise a levy if they want to pay for a Community Support Officer."

However, the plans have been rounded on by the Police Federation, the organisation representing rank-and-file officers. A spokesperson told SMT: "We are fundamentally opposed to the creation of an ill-equipped, ill-trained second layer of law enforcement which can cause confusion in terms of who holds what powers in what circumstances and for how long."

The statement from the Federation goes on to say: "We don't feel it has yet been proven that Community Support Officers have a tangible impact upon crime. It would, therefore, be imprudent to increase their numbers until such time as a robust and thorough analysis of their performance and cost-effectiveness has been carried out."

Source

SMT