Sussex Chief Constable tells of coping strategies for rise in crime

Ahead of a review of the way that Sussex Police will be organised, to be announced on November 6th, Giles York told a performance and accountability meeting on Friday 15th September that the police in Sussex are arresting fewer people and spending less time investigating crimes. As a consequence more crimes are going unsolved.

The amount of time devoted to individual investigations has been reduced from 31 days to 21 days and officers are being told to prioritise crimes against the most vulnerable and prolific offenders.

He admitted that some crimes just wouldn’t be investigated at all including some considered to be serious such as public order and firearm offences.

Concerns were expressed at the meeting about a small coterie of police officers who have resisted adapting to the use of digital technology to help them to save time, especially the use of 2,000 mobile phones that have been distributed to officers.

Giles York said that the county was still an “incredibly safe” place to live but he added that the reality is that there are now far fewer officers and staff and it would be “unfair and ineffective” to give them the same workload as before, saying: “It would break them. They are told to prioritise the most dangerous crimes”.