The Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police has defended a rise in council tax by saying the force needs the additional cash to “stabilise the force’s finances”.
Gareth Morgan’s comments come after the Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire and Rescue, and Crime Matthew Ellis opted to increase the precept by £24.
The decision was backed by the Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel.
Chief Constable Morgan said: “Staffordshire, like many regions of the UK is facing rising and increasingly complex crime, with many new and emerging threats that are taking more time and resources to solve.
“This increase in funding will help to stabilise the force’s finances and support the ongoing programmes of change within Staffordshire Police.
“Importantly it will also provide extra investment to improve our capacity to target and disrupt those committing crimes such as burglary and vehicle crime and causing the most harm against people and their property.”
Chief Constable Morgan added that future investments in areas such as missing persons, cyber crime and policing of the road network would be boosted by the increase.
He added: “This additional investment, which will equate to around 40 extra officers and staff, will enable us to make further progress on the delivering on the priorities set out in the Policing Plan to keep people safe.”
