South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Alun Michael, has criticised comments by senior officers in England about the days of ‘Bobbies on the Beat’ being numbered and promises “In South Wales we won’t walk away from neighbourhood policing”.

Responding to comments by senior officers in England that the days of bobbies on the beat are numbered, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said:

“This is a quite old-fashioned debate because the idea of police officers wandering the streets without a clear sense of purpose went out 20 years ago. In South Wales we are making best use of the additional PCSOs provided by Welsh Government to work ever more closely with our communities and we won’t be following the line taken by some English police forces who are walking away from neighbourhood policing.

“At a time when the number of police officers in South Wales has been reduced from 3,400 to 2,800 as a result of the cuts posed by the UK Government it’s ever more important to work closely with our communities and with our partners in local government and health and the voluntary sector – so the message from me and from the Chief Constable is that in South Wales we will ‘shrink together, not shrink apart’ because we can do more together to maintain safe, healthy communities than any of us can by working alone in silos of reactive service delivery. With such deep cuts year-on-year – and with more to come – this isn’t easy but it’s the only wise way to plan ahead.”