Police & Crime Commissioner cuts PCSOs and face to face contact desks in Cheshire

Community policing is being cut by Conservative Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire John Dwyer, with Police Community Support Officers set to fall after being championed by the previous Labour PCC David Keane.

At the Police & Crime Panel meeting on 4 February 2022, PCC John Dwyer announced that the number of PCSOs would be reduced from 200 to 160. This was universally opposed by the cross-party members of the Panel, recognising the importance of community policing. PCC John Dwyer will instead divert resources to police officers and a further 82 backroom staff roles.

PCC John Dwyer also came in for criticism over the 4.4% increase in the police precept. When he claimed strong public support for the increase, a Conservative Councillor on the panel pointed out that just 3.3% of Cheshire residents had responded to the consultation, undermining his claims of endorsement from the public.

Cllr Robert Bisset, Police & Crime Panel member, said: “Conservative PCC John Dwyer has previously assured Police & Crime Panel members that there were no plans to change the current allocation of PCSOs and that the 122 communities would have their PCSO numbers maintained.

“Now he has revealed his plans to slash the number of PCSOs – reversing progress under the former Labour PCC to deliver community policing. This model was nationally acclaimed for its results, and rightly hailed by Cheshire Police as an example of how to support communities.”

PCC John Dwyer has also announced plans to remove face to face contact desks from 11 towns across the county, down from 16. Unless residents live in Blacon, Crewe, Warrington, Widnes or Macclesfield they will have no face-to-face contact desk to visit for support.

Pictured - Cllr Robert Bisset, Police & Crime Panel member.