Police chiefs have said the government is “gambling with public safety” as further budget cuts loom.
West Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williams and temporary chief constable Dee Collins have spoken out as the Chancellor prepares to slash between 25% and 40% of the force’s cash.
Since 2010 almost £160m of savings have already been found at a cost of about 2,000 jobs, more than 1,200 of which were officers.
The Chancellor will reveal spending on police, the NHS and councils at the Comprehensive Spending Review next Wednesday.
Mr Mark Burns-Williamson and ACC Collins met with West Yorkshire MPs at the House of Commons to ask for their help.
Mr Burns Williamson said: “The Government is taking a gamble with public safety.
“Even at the lowest end of the proposed cuts – 25% - on top of what is already a greatly reduced policing budget – we are looking at a different policing service to what people know.
“If a 25% cut goes through people will see a change in how West Yorkshire Police goes about everything it does – from tackling anti-social behaviour to keeping people safe from the threat of terrorism.
“A 40% cut would be simply catastrophic and unthinkable.
“Either way the Government would be taking a massive gamble but there is still time to stop these deep and damaging cuts.
“I have urged the MPs to use their influence to join me in the fight against the level of cuts and to protect neighbourhood policing.”
Temporary Chf Con Collins said core services would have to be cut.
She said the force had already slashed £138m from its budget with a further £19m of cuts planned.
As thing stand a further £6.4m must be found by 2017 without the impact of any further cuts by the chancellor.
She said: “Until we know the scale of the government cuts, we cannot predict with any certainty just how they will impact upon our services and in what areas.
“What we do know however, is that we will have to make some extremely difficult decisions, even if the cuts emerge at the lower end of that register.”
