The capitals police could see deep cuts to meet new financial targets set by Scotland Yard to satisfy the new cost conscious ethos imposed by central government.
The Metropolitan Police will have to cut £366 million of its £3.9 billion annual budget in the next three years despite having the weight of securing the 2012 Olympics and the prospect of a crime wave provoked by the rise of unemployment and the deep recession the capital is experiencing.
The Treasury has imposed across the UK's police forces a 3-4 per cent "efficiency savings target", which will mean the Metropolitan Police having to cut its headcount which currently accounts for 75% per cent of its annual budget.
The government has confirmed that there will not be a public spending review until after the general election but even if the Conservative do win the general elections they have already warned that public spending will need to come down by around 10 per cent.
Andy Trotter the head of the British Transport is reported in The Times as saying:
"The largest proportion of our costs is our people and once we have squeezed out all the efficiencies we can, we are faced with some very, very tough decisions on frontline staff".
"We face a very severe terrorism threat the Olympic Games are just a few years away and there is the potential for an increase in crime during the recession. That’s a very difficult time to be contemplating potential reductions in police officers, community support officers and essential police staff".
Currently the annual budget for the Met stands at £3.9 billion and the Metropolitan Police has according to The Times planned cuts of £166 million over the next two years. Peter Smyth of the Metropolitan Police Federation underlined in The Times his eagerness to see policing levels remain at 32,000 until after 2012 and then Smyth predicts there will be a sharp drop in policing in London.
U.S. condemns new Israel housing unitsVice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States condemns Israel's decision to build 1,600 housing units in a Jerusalem neighborhood, calling it "a step that undermines the trust we need right now."
