Increased use of civilian roles in the police
Over the years there has been a rise in civilian
staff working within the Police force and
home office figures show that the ratio of
officers to civilian staff has doubled in the last
decade. In two police forces, the number of
civilian staff has over taken the uniformed
officers according to an article from the
‘Guardian.’ The article states that the
federation ‘was concerned about the
workforce changes and a trend towards the
“civilisation” of police, which it said would
place the public at greater risk.’
The positives for civilian staff working for the police force are; it frees up police officers time and
they are cheaper to employ compared to an average police officer. They also work in roles that
include crime analysts, command and dispatch, human resources and communications officers. The
only downside to civilians working in these roles is that they may not have the same level of training
as some officers however; they will still receive a good amount of training to get them to their
desired level. The main reason for increasing the amount of civilian roles within the police was to
put more police officers on the front line rather than have them being stuck inside doing all of the
administration work.
Increase in asylum seekers
Every year, an increasing amount of asylum
seekers come to the UK hoping to seek asylum in
this country. An old report from the daily mail
online has quoted ‘It is an issue of great concern
for those of us who feel there is a part to play for
genuine asylum-seekers. But we don’t want to be
swamped by the massive numbers we have seen
coming in so far.’
When the UK house asylum seekers, who are
waiting on a claim for 12 months here, the
taxpayer’s money is being spent on housing them and funding them to stay here in that time period
because they are not allowed to work. It is said that asylum seekers could contribute £42m to the UK
if the work rules were relaxed; meaning if they were allowed to fill job roles on the shortage
occupation list. Due to the increasing numbers of asylum seekers, the UK will have to invest even
more of the taxpayer’s money to house them which won’t have a very positive effect on society.