Dangerous criminals will be on the loose for longer after police budget cuts, warns Met chief

Sir Mark Rowley says the financial pressures facing the force will make catching criminals harder

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Dangerous criminals will become harder to catch as a result of “eye-watering” budget cuts being forced on the police, the Met Commissioner has warned.
In a stark letter to Scotland Yard’s 46,000 officers and staff, Sir Mark Rowley said the financial pressures facing the force meant police numbers would have to be drastically cut and priorities would need to change.
He said the impact of the budget cuts on the public should not be underestimated and would inevitably make it harder for the police to catch criminals and bring them to justice.
Sir Mark warned that high-risk people who were on wanted lists would remain at large for longer and there would be significant delays in charging and convicting criminals.
“Over the coming months we will need to look at the services we may need to stop, reduce or reshape,” he explained.
The Met is facing a 12.8 per cent reduction in its £3.5 billion budget, equating to around £500 million over the next financial year.
In recent years, Scotland Yard has faced real-terms budget reductions but bosses have been able to cushion the impact by raiding cash reserves and selling off valuable buildings, including police stations.
In 2014, the force sold its old Scotland Yard headquarters to Middle East property developers for £370 million.
But Sir Mark has stressed there are no reserves left and he has warned that the scale of the cuts this year could not be covered by making further efficiencies.
An estimated 2,000 officers and 400 police staff are expected to be axed and there is likely to be a recruitment freeze as Met chiefs desperately try to balance the books.
In his letter, seen by the Telegraph, Sir Mark explained: “The bulk of our running costs are attached to our workforce so some workforce reductions will be required to help make up a large proportion of our savings.”
He went on: “We do not underestimate the impact this could have on Londoners. We will have to re-prioritise how our specialist officers work, less capacity means investigations will take longer.
“High-risk wanted persons will remain at large for longer and in some cases, a lower chance of successful charge or conviction – delaying or preventing justice for victims.”
Sir Mark had previously warned that the impact of the budget reductions would result in “some pretty eye-watering cuts to the services we provide to London”, but Met bosses are now beginning to work out which specific areas will be affected
Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed how the Met was planning to axe 60 murder detectives across London in a bid to save millions from its overall budget.
Under the radical plans every one of the Met’s 20 homicide squads would lose three detective constables, reducing the headcount in each from 18 to 15.
The move was intended to shave £4.2 million, or ten per cent, off the murder command’s annual budget, as the Met grappled with a multi-million pound funding shortfall.
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