With the approaching 2012 London Olympics and the economic recovery underway, the New Government Coalition has gone back on its promise to secure public sector jobs and place more police officers on our streets. As a result, the already screened and vetted 2000 candidates who underwent a long and rigorous recruitment process have had their applications terminated due to the spending cuts. Many of these candidates have been waiting as long as 2 years and, have had to make considerable financial and personal sacrifices. Many of the recruits, who dream of a career with the Metropolitan police, have had their hopes crushed due to the government’s lack of support. £200,000 of public money was spent on just last year’s (2009) recruitment campaign; yet 1800 recruits were called between 09/06/2010 - 14/06/2010 and informed that their applications had been terminated. This expenditure does not even take into account how much it costs the Tax payer to interview, screen and vet all these candidates. Moreover, recruits were made to believe in March 2010 that positive options had been achieved, and a start date could be made possible. Does it make sense that in a time of mass unemployment and rising crime rates that the voters` needs for safer streets and more Police presence is totally ignored by these cuts? Surely, at times where “broken society” has taken centre stage, the public needs to be reassured of their safety by a greater police presence. Recruitment of new Police Officers has been suspended for at least 2/3 years. This is at no fault to the MET. They have been dictated a budget set by the new Coalition Government and our London Mayor Boris Johnson. ‘Efficiency Cuts’ have to be made we all agree but at what price? With nearly 7.4 million people living in 620 square miles, can the government really afford to jeopardise the Capital’s safety and well being? In the UK, we are proud of a professional and fully trained Police Force. What the Government wants is to force the MET into cutting back their budget by recruiting vast numbers of Special Constables “Policing on the cheap”. These are volunteers from the public who are neither paid nor receive the same full 6 -month training as fulltime officers. Nevertheless, as volunteers, they are expected to do the same job and take the same frontline risks as regular police officers. This invites us to our next question: If there are no places available for new cadets then why is the MPS continuously recruiting Special Constables? We are petitioning that the Coalition Government reverse its decision on recruitment and reinstate the 1800 terminated cadets with start dates or at least allow them to remain within the system with a valid day 1 pass until a training date becomes available. Many recruits would voluntarily make sacrifices to work for the MPS; options such as paying for training themselves or an initial reduction in wages have not even been considered. When, in fact, many recruits have already left their current employment or have put other jobs on hold because they were made to believe they were guaranteed a job with the MPS. Increase Police presence by not freezing funds on training new Officers. Keep our Police Force professional so that we can remain proud of our Officers and ensure that public confidence in policing does not decrease. Coalition Government in particular; the Liberal Democrats promised pre-election to place 3000 more police officers on the street. KEEP THIS PROMISE! Efficiency savings should not compromise front line services that may result in Officers` safety. Lack of back up from properly trained Officers on the street makes it increasingly dangerous to presently serving police officers. Special Constables only work, on average, 4 hours a week; if we are a victim of crime, will our case be dealt with to a satisfactory standard, knowing that maybe the officer who dealt with it will not be available when we need them? All we want as recruits is the chance to serve our public and make a positive difference throughout our great capital.

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