Unique problem for county Surrey faces 'exceptional' criminal threat
Thursday, 06 March, 2008
More than half of Surrey's criminal threats will soon come from outside the county, a problem never before faced by a police force, according to report presented to Surrey County Council MPs by Chief Constable Bob Quick.
Forensic intelligence shows that 47 per cent of offenders for crimes such as burglary and vehicle crime come from outside Surrey, more than half of these from London.
Fifty nine per cent of identified organised crime gangs affecting Surrey are engaged in drugs supply (usually cocaine and heroin) and originate from London. Such availability results in drugs prices being relatively low.
In addition, organised criminality (business robberies, people trafficking, drugs manufacture and supply, etc) are increasingly displaced into the Surrey Police area by the Metropolitan Police, which has greater assets and resources.
Cross-border crime is an issue for all forces, however Surrey's proximity to London and other higher crime areas puts additional pressures on the county which are not taken into account by the current funding formula. Surrey is funded based on a prediction of what crime its demographics will generate. Little or no account is taken of travelling criminals or serious crime threats.
The report, 'Protecting Surrey' reads, "Surrey Police has recently been assessed as one of the best forces in the UK by HMIC and Home Office. With falling crime, increasing public confidence in local police and protective services assessed as 'good' and 'excellent', all would seem well.
An 'excellent' efficiency record and an innovative track record suggest continuing success is secured.
"Unfortunately for Surrey, Government funding of policing at £89 per head of population is among the lowest of all counties in England and Wales. A funding crisis amounting to a deficit of £9.1million over three years to enable Surrey Police to simply 'stand still', compounded by escalating travelling criminal threats, indicate the approach of a critical point of unsustainability, bringing with it significant risk to the Surrey public. Efficiencies become harder to achieve as each year passes."
Chief Constable Bob Quick said: "Surrey Police is funded as if we were a small, rural force hundreds of miles away from London, yet criminals from the capital commit nearly a third of all our crime. Surrey is also well within the London counter-terrorism footprint and contains a number of locations that require a high level of policing. We also have the task of policing some of the busiest road networks in the UK, including the M25, M3 and M23, as well as supporting policing to secure the safety of Gatwick and Heathrow airports right on our border.
"The level of funding provided by the Government does not equate to the level of service the public rightly demands. It certainly does not recognise our additional responsibility in protective services such as counter-terrorism.
Given this level of responsibility it is hard to understand why Cumbria, for example, receives a larger Government grant than Surrey.
"While we are proud of the high performance we consistently achieve, we are worried that poor Government funding will soon start to have an impact on effective policing. Cuts will have to be made and we are concerned that dangerous levels of public risk will accumulate over time if this funding gap is not closed."
