Police tied up in bureaucracy, report shows

6.32.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 1st Apr 2007

Ming Campbell with policeman

Only one in 40 police officers on duty in some forces is available to respond to 999 calls, according to a HM Inspectorate of Constabulary study published yesterday. The report found that only 2.5 per cent of uniformed officers in one area were allocated to "response duties".

Nick Clegg MP, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson said "This is what comes from tying up police officers in reams of paperwork and government bureaucracy. Both the police and the public want our police officers ready and able to respond to emergency calls, not locked in a station filling out forms. The Liberal Democrats would expand the use of IT for the police, like voice recognition and handheld computers, to liberate police officers."