LIBERAL DEMOCRATS PLEDGE 10,000 MORE POLICE AND 20,000 MORE COMMUNITY SUPPORT OFFICERS

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 18th Apr 2005

The Liberal Democrats today pledged to put 10,000 extra police and 20,000 Community Support Officers (CSOs) on the streets of England, Scotland and Wales - an average of approximately 50 extra police and CSOs on the streets of every constituency. The Party would scrap Labour's flawed plan to charge people for their identity through compulsory national ID cards. The Party also pledged to equip officers with hand-held computers and the latest speech recognition technology to cut paperwork and increase the amount of time spent on actual policing.

Sam Potts said:

"Crime causes real misery for the victims and no set of statistics can measure the human cost of crime.

"The fear of crime undermines whole communities. The elderly and vulnerable can feel defenceless which prevents people from living their lives to the full. That's why our package is based on visible policing.

"Seeing a police or community support officer on patrol provides positive reassurance and an effective deterrent to would-be criminals. 10,000 new police officers and 20,000 new Community Support Officers would make a real difference in every community.

"We need our police officers out in the community, not stuck in the station. In an 8 hour shift, the average police officer only spends an hour and a half on patrol. We need to shift that balance. To help achieve this, we will give the police the technology they need and simplify the bureaucracy they face when reporting."

ENDS