Chair of Greater Manchester Police Federation Lee Broadbent has hit out at "decades of cuts" which have "removed the visible and physical deterrent of policing" and have left officers powerless to stamp out problems "at source".
Taking a broad look at law and order, Mr Broadbent believes the police have become a purely "reactive" force. Tweeting today, he said: "We used to have a presence on estates and knew our problem kids.
We used to have a presence on our town centres and knew our fighting drunks. "We used to have a presence at football fixtures and knew our problem ‘fans’.
We used to stamp it out at source. "Decades of cuts have removed the visible and physical deterrent of policing from communities which has resulted in increased ASB (anti-social behaviour) and criminality.
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