Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter. Photo: Daniel Jaines
More than 190 extra police officers have been recruited for the North and North East Lincolnshire areas by Humberside Police, while Lincolnshire Police is forced to cut officer numbers in its area by at least 40.
Since Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner Keith Hunter was elected in 2016, he says officer numbers have risen from 1,420 to around 1,900 (480 extra), a move which he puts down to “really working the figures as much as we could.”
Of that figure 192 (40%) have been allocated to the South Bank (North and North East Lincolnshire) with 288 (60%) of those going to the north of the bank.
The deployment of officers reflects the force’s crime and incident demand.
He said he would like to see even more added to that figure but that to do so requires “millions and millions of pounds of efficiency savings”.
“I would like to see a lot more officers on the streets but we have to be realistic, with the funding we get we have got a good number of officers out on the streets now.”
He said the force’s recruitment campaign had been the biggest nationally, with other forces now following suit, but he warned of uncertainty in the future.
“For me it’s about sustaining them as far as possible. With current funding it is possible, but we don’t know what our funding is going to be next year, we’ve been given no indication, so I’m having to make some assumptions based on no knowledge whatsoever.
“Basically around ‘flat cash’ which is a reasonable assumption on the information we’ve got at the moment.
“I’m not allowing the force just to slacken off, they have to deliver millions and millions of pounds of efficiency savings and I’m driving them to do that because I want those extra officers out on the streets where they can have an effect.”
One such saving was looking to cut the number of PCSOs across the area from 224 to 150 to pay for the extra police officers.
However, he said his recent council tax precept rise of 12.04% (£24), the highest he could go before a referendum was required, had enabled him to save 28 of those.
Lincolnshire Police face losing 103 staff across the force – including 40 officers – plus an extra £1 million of cuts to the G4S contract despite an 11% rise in the precept in Marc Jones’ own budget.
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The 32-year-old man and 30-year-old woman arrested in the murder probe of an 11-year-old boy in Lincoln have both been released on police bail, without any charges.
The man was arrested on suspicion of murder and the woman on suspicion of manslaughter after an incident at a house on Geneva Street on St Giles in Lincoln.
Police were called to the house at 10pm on Friday night, January 22.
The 11-year-old boy was found unwell at the scene and was taken to hospital for treatment.
He was pronounced dead a short time later.
At the time Lincolnshire Police said the death was unexplained and it was treated as murder.
The man and the woman arrested at the weekend were released on police bail on Monday evening.
Lincolnshire Police said in a statement on Monday night:
“Once again, we’d like to remind people that this is an active investigation and that an 11-year-old boy has sadly lost his life.
“Speculative comments are not only deeply upsetting to those involved but can potentially undermine our investigation.
“If you have any information that can help, call 101 or email [email protected] quoting incident 472 of January 22.”
Ten people from Boston have been given fines for breaching COVID-19 regulations by driving dangerously in supermarket car parks.
Officers were called after three separate reports of dangerous driving in the car parks of Lidl and Tesco in Wyberton Fen, as well as on Marsh Lane Industrial Estate in Boston.
All three incidents took place and were reported to police between 5pm and 6pm on Sunday, January 24, though it is unsure if they were connected at all.
When officers arrived, the drivers were seen doing donut manoeuvres and racing in the snow.
A total of 10 people were given £200 fines for breaking lockdown guidelines, but this will be reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days, due to all being first time offenders.
As well as the COVID-19 fines, two of the vehicles were also seized as a result of being uninsured, with drivers reported.
A traffic offence report was also submitted after one driver was seen to be driving not just dangerously but out of control.
Inspector Fran Harrod of Lincolnshire Police said: “We would like to thank the public for bringing these incidents of dangerous driving to our attention.
“This is not only extremely dangerous to those taking part but to others in these areas.
“While we continue to engage and explain with the public, this was a blatant breach of the restrictions which will not be tolerated.”
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