Chichester’s MP Jess Brown-Fuller is urging the Government to reverse cuts to Police Community Support Officers.
She raised the issue during a Westminster debate on catapults and anti-social behaviour.
It follows concerns about a rise in catapult use circulating on social media and questions about how police respond when incidents are reported.
Jess urged the Government to look at the number of Police Community Support Officers, which fell by 4,500 nationally between 2015 and 2025. According to Jess, this is putting pressure on local services who already face a lot of desk time and administration, keeping officers away from patrolling or dealing with anti-social behaviour.
She called on the Government to reverse these trends, supporting local police forces to be a visible and effective service, and to create a National Online Crime Agency to take responsibility for certain crimes away from local forces. Jess also asked the Government to look at the declining number of police desks, and to consider either reopening them or using community hubs to host police desks.
After the debate, Jess said:
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own home and walking down their own streets, and that applies to the wildlife that we live with as well. I’ve heard sickening reports of cases in Chichester where individuals have used catapults to harm wildlife.”
“Of course, we need a society-wide approach to stamping out this behaviour, but we also need stronger local policing to deal with it. Currently our police are overstretched, under-resourced and unable to focus on the crimes that affect our communities the most.”
“The Government must take immediate steps to reverse the trends we saw during the previous decade of Conservative government, ensuring local police services get the support they need to tackle anti-social behaviour.”
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