Cuts give police huge challenge ; Chief constable Stephen Otter discusses policing in Cornwall, with the force having to cut Pounds 47 million over the next four years.

LOOKING forward to 2011 and beyond it seems clear that, forpolicing, the next few years will be an extraordinarily challengingperiod.

There will be budget cuts of the like we have not seen before andwe must re-prioritise and restructure the way we deliver policingacross Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

In doing so we will continue to prioritise the "frontline"service that is so important to communities - from the visible andaccessible policing of local neighbourhoods to emergency responsepatrols and skilled crime investigation teams.

I believe that in order to provide this excellent service it isvital that our teams comprise a mix of police officers, policecommunity support officers and civilian staff all bringing theirspecialist skills to help keep people safe.

We have had to make some tough decisions over the past fewmonths. In December we and the police authority made the difficultdecision to invoke a little-used regulation known as A19 which givesus the power to forcibly retire police officers who have completedtheir 30 years' pensionable service.

With a freeze on recruitment, this will mean 700 fewer officersover the next four years. The need to cut more than Pounds 47million over the next four years leaves us with no option but to cutofficer numbers alongside the cuts we are making to civilian staffnumbers and non-staff costs.

We have also recently taken the decision to close 34 frontcounters across Devon and Cornwall. Again, this was not an easydecision, but is in direct response to the way the public are usingour services and it is clear it is impossible to justify retainingan excellent but expensive service that may only be used by tenpeople over an entire week.

There will remain a network of front counter services located nomore than 15 miles from any point in Devon and Cornwall. Also,responding to public need, we will be investing in our call centresand internet service to enable the public to contact us more easily.

Since the Government announced the cuts, people have expressed tome their concerns about the impact they might have for local policeservices, while they also tell me how they would like to see thepublic sector make better use of public funds.

As chief constable, I believe it is essential that I lead theservice through this crisis so that we continue to cut crime, catchcriminals and protect the people - at a lower cost.

Like many leaders in the public sector I feel personally very letdown by the financial institutions that have led us into thiscrisis.

I am immensely proud to serve people by leading officers andstaff who go to extraordinary lengths to keep people safe from harm.We are the fourth safest place to live in the country. I amcommitted to keeping it that way.