MoD Police cut plans 'will cost lives'

25 October 2011

The Ministry of Defence could be looking to halve the numbers of MoD Police officers in a move that 'will put lives at risk', the MoD Police staff association has warned.

The Defence Police Federation (DPF) said consultations that have been taking place throughout the year could lead to the halving of staff numbers and reduced security at British defence establishments.

DPF national chairman Eamon Keating has said further cuts to the MoD Police would ultimately cost lives, and asked for defence ministers to publicly acknowledge their involvement in any cuts decision so that they may be held to account later.

Earlier this year the MoD proposed cuts to the MoD Police budget of 35 per cent, but the MoD Police have since been asked to cut an extra 15 per cent, Keating told Defencemanagment.com.

"When they put their figures together [after Planning Round '11] the 35 - along with all the other departments - wasn't going to make the grade. So we're now looking at a 50 per cent reduction in our budget," he said.

With around 90 per cent of the MoD Police budget spent on manpower, personnel numbers would take the majority of the hit, Keating said

"There are some efficiencies that can be made in some locations but we had pretty much stripped those down already after the 2009 planning rounds," he said. "We've been under review consistently for the last ten years and we've stripped out pretty much everything we can from the support side."

Keating said the MoD may be looking to increase its reliance on the Military Provost Guard Service to protect bases, but that that the loss of policing skills would cost security.

"I think it [the MoD] believes that publicly it can replace police officers with soldiers. On the face of it the guns will still be there so it will give a feeling of security, but in actual fact it's not the firearms that do the job. We protect establishments from the outside in," he said.

"Having police officers there means we can get out into the local community, we can work alongside the local constabularies and local people, residents, and create a layered approach that means anyone even coming to have a look at one of these establishments would risk being seen and caught. So they just avoid them at all costs.

"We are linked in with all the national intelligence databases. We gather intelligence, we stop and speak to people, we work with the local married quarters estates, the local communities, the councils and there is an acceptance when you see a police officer with a black and white chequered band.

"If you put a military guard in you get a military response, which is highly aggressive as a reaction but isn't very proactive. Our military are world leaders in what they do but they are not designed to do what we do. They have their role and we have ours."

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "A range of options for the MoD's future requirement for civil policing and security services is currently under consideration and no final decisions have yet been taken.

"MoD attaches very high importance to safeguarding its people, information and assets, and the ability to deliver its operational and other outputs. We will continue to maintain effective and proportionate levels of security at all sites."