Essex Police fill budget gap with more fines
Police in Essex will have to make devastating cuts of 50million over the next four years as part of the Govern-ments spending review. The figure is 5million more than Essex Police s Chief Constable Jim Barker-McCardle predicted the force would have to slash when he spoke on the issue earlier this year. The saving the Essex constabulary will have to make equates to the salaries of 19,230 frontline police constables. The police budget in Essex will be cut from the current 267million to 217million by 2014/15. The force has yet to announce how it will make the savings. Andy Bliss, Essex Police s deputy chief constable, said it was inevitable jobs will be axed. He said: We will study these figures in order to understand the exact consequences for the Essex Police budget. Together with the Essex Police Authority we will tailor our plans for savings to fit with the budget we are given. The Chief Constable has said before we will have to make major changes to the way we organise pol