A boom in recruitment in the Seventies also means many officers are now coming up for retirement leading to high natural losses. Arguments over recruitment may sound fairly dry but they are bread and butter issues for all politicians across the borough and at a national level. This election, both Labour and the Conservatives are vying to appear tough on crime. The Tories promise a big rise in police numbers and a cut in the paperwork which they say keeps police off the streets. Labour's pledge card this time around includes a promise to raise police numbers by 6,000 extra officers across the country, to the highest ever level, as well as vowing not to cut police funding.
Labour is also keen for a rise in the number of prison places.
The Liberal Democrats are also promising an extra 6,000 police but want to improve prisons and cut re-offending rates. The party is also keen to increase the numbers of community beat officers and promote the use of community sentences. In Barnet Chief Supt Yates points to a ten per cent drop in burglaries, amounting to some 400 less this year. But street crime has increased by 19 per cent partly due to high numbers of mobile phones being stolen. Clearly offenders in the borough know police response times are low so the chances of getting caught are low.