Earlier tonight, we spoke with the Deputy Commander for Milton Keynes about police numbers in the local area.
Following recent crime trends in Milton Keynes, MKFM is hosting an exclusive week of crime interviews where we put your questions to key decision makers.
One of the main topics when it comes to policing in Milton Keynes so far this year, has been surrounding police numbers.
Earlier tonight, MKFM spoke to Chief Inspector Livingstone, Deputy Commander for Milton Keynes. We spoke to him about police numbers in MK.
He told us that Milton Keynes has received the most new posts across the Thames Valley region.
As a local policing area, there are 348 established posts for police officers, according to the figures from local police.
The numbers that local police have tell us that Thames Valley Police sees approximately 600 posts across the force and Milton Keynes' local policing area will get the most which is 36, the most across the entire force.
The deputy told us that in 2021, 29 new officers joined the local policing area, 2021/22 saw 36 officers and the force is projecting that they will have 46 new student officers in MK in 2022/23.
The Deputy Commander told MKFM that other than these figures, there are also other departments, which will also have uplift, that they are able to draw down on. These include PVPs (Protecting Vulnerable People) and specialist detective roles- these roles also service Milton Keynes.
Despite serving Milton Keynes, these roles don't necessarily sit on the police area numbers, the Deputy Commander explained. "and that's the same as the joint operations unit."
Those units include response vehicles, roads policing units and dog handlers, which cover Milton Keynes but don't sit on the local numbers.
MKFM asked the Deputy Commander if this meant there was more police in Milton Keynes, not just on the payroll, but as support. To which he said "absolutely."
"In simple terms, do I want more? Yes please," he said: "But at the same time we have to be really mindful that we are a big force and there are other areas within the force that have other competing demands."
The discussion surrounding police numbers has been a big topic since the beginning of March in MK.
In March, the MK Labour group released a press release regarding police numbers. The press release suggested that they had heard 2 new officers had been recruited for MK.
MKFM reached out to the MPs and Police and Crime Commissioner who have said that 78 officers had actually been recruited.
Ben Everitt MP told MKFM that his push for more police has been 'achieved'. MKFM also heard that there are more police now than ever before.
In a discussion with the MK Council Leader, last night, he said the Labour figures came from a police officer and accused the Conservatives of 'massaging figures'.
There has been some changes to our news special schedule. Here is the updated list:
Monday 4th April 7PM - Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police
Tuesday 5th April 7PM - Ben Everitt, MP for Milton Keynes North
Wednesday 6th April 7PM - Cllr Peter Marland, Leader of Milton Keynes Council
Thursday 7th April 7PM - Chief Inspector Livingstone, Deputy Commander for MK
Sunday 10th April 7PM - Iain Stewart, MP for Milton Keynes South
Tuesday 12th April 7PM- Cllr Jane Carr
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