MKFM has reached out to the MP for Milton Keynes North and the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner in a bid to find out the exact numbers of police in MK.
On Wednesday (9/3), MK Labour Group reported that the Thames Valley Police Community Forum had heard that the force’s stale hiring process has resulted in officers from outside of Milton Keynes having to come to work overtime in response to knife and gang-related crime.
They said that despite this, only two officers have have been recruited to cover the Milton Keynes area.
MKFM reached out to Ben Everitt, MP for Milton Keynes North and Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police, for a comment in response to the Labour Group's research.
Despite asking for yearly numbers for recruited police in Milton Keynes, MKFM have been unable to receive them from TVP or the local MP, with residents also calling on the figures to be released on social media.
Ben Everitt MP told MKFM: "During the 2019 election I campaigned for 183 new officers for Thames Valley Police. By the end of 2021, we had an extra 229.
“The Government has also allocated Thames Valley Police resources to recruit an extra 244 officers in 2022/23 and I’m pleased to learn that by the end of March the force will have more officers than ever before at 4,615.
“I’m working closely with the Government and Matthew Barber on tackling knife crime in Milton Keynes and recently raised the issue with the Policing Minister in the House of Commons.
“Over the past the Government has also provided millions of pounds to Thames Valley Police for the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) and from the Home Office Serious Violence Fund.”
MKFM understands that the MP's office have tried to get hold of the yearly figures.
Thames Valley Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley said in a joint statement to MKFM: “It is incorrect to state we have only hired two new police officers to cover Milton Keynes.
“Over the last two years, there have been 92 new officers and 15 transfers in Milton Keynes, while 46 have left, equalling a net increase of 61 officers.
“Milton Keynes has benefitted, along with the rest of the Thames Valley from the National Police Uplift Programme which presents a fantastic opportunity to increase the number of police officers for all of our communities.
“It will see us recruit at least an additional 598 officers by March 2023 who will significantly enhance our ability to prevent harm, investigate crime, support victims, bring offenders to justice and make our communities safer.
“Thames Valley Police continues to attract a high number of applicants looking to serve their communities as police officers and by the end of this month we will have increased officer numbers by 365, achieving higher levels of diversity than at any previous time; with 14.7% of all new officers in the past 12 months coming from ethnically diverse backgrounds and in the same period 48.8% of our new recruits have been female.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, the recruitment market nationally is buoyant and therefore challenging from a recruiters perspective. We are working hard to attract sufficient recruits to meet our 2021/22 targets and currently have over 1,450 applicants at various stages of the recruitment process.
“We are committed to delivering an increase in police officers numbers, not just through the national recruitment programme, but through locally funded recruitment that goes even further.
“In addition we will continue to work with local councils and other partners to drive down knife crime but focusing on prevention, investing in CCTV and targeting those most likely to become involved with serious violence.”
Despite the figures supplied to MKFM, nobody has been able to tell us the total number of police officers in Milton Keynes over the last 3 years.
Even though the net figure of 63 has been quoted, the actual net figure could be much lower with officers off with long term sickness, suspensions and other circumstances. It is also not clear if these figures include PCSO’s which is another unanswered question.
MKFM will update this article or our news page as more comes.
Labour councillors are calling for the Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner to take the issue of knife crime seriously and put more full time police on the beat in Milton Keynes, with Councillor Lauren Townsend, Labour Cabinet Member for Community Safety, saying: “We need strong action on crime, however the Conservatives aren’t delivering this.
"It is clear that current police levels in Milton Keynes are completely unsustainable; officers are working tirelessly to keep people safe, but we need more police on the streets to tackle crime and knife crime effectively."
Questions have also been raised during the Christmas period when protesters were able to cause chaos in Milton Keynes. It was claimed that their were insufficient police at the time to be able to deal with the incident.
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