Ten
police forces will receive £13m of funding to recruit civilian staff and free
up officers for frontline policing, the home secretary has announced.
Speaking
on a visit on Newcastle, David Blunkett said that officers too often find
themselves trapped in the station.
"We
need to ensure that those officers are out in their communities, reducing crime
and reassuring the public through high-visibility policing," he said.
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During
the visit, the home secretary saw how a pilot project run by Northumbria police
should result in the equivalent of 91 police officers being freed up over the
next two years.
