Council demands more police officers on the streets of Milton Keynes

A demand for police officers to keep the streets of MK safe has been made by by council’s Progressive Alliance.

The Labour/Liberal Democrat alliance says the local police service is under resourced, with some police stations closed to the public or suffering cuts in their opening hours.

They say policing numbers have failed to recover from the government’s headcount cuts. As a result, there are not enough officers patrolling the streets and public places

.Government figures from March 2021 show 4,401 police officers in the Thames Valley police force - a decrease from 4,415 in September 2020.

Now the Progressive Alliance is set to propose a motion at nest week's full council asking when the police service in Milton Keynes will be sufficiently resourced.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet member for Customer Services, Cllr Paul Trendall, will move the motion.

He said: “We’re not seeing as many police on the streets in Milton Keynes as we need. The residents of Milton Keynes deserve to know when their local police service will be properly resourced, so they feel safe and protected.”

His motion requests that the Council Leader and Chief Executive write to the Police & Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley.

Councillor Lauren Townsend, Labour's Cabinet member for Public Realm, is seconding the motion. She said: “Residents deserve to feel safe in their communities and supported by their local police force. This can only happen if the police themselves are supported.”