DORSET’S Police and Crime Commissioner fears policing in the county will “change forever” if the cuts keep coming.

The comments come after PCC Martyn Underhill and Dorset Police Federation backed the inaugural Essex Police Federation Cuts have Consequences campaign.

Mr Underhill is the first PCC to actively support the Police Federation video and campaign.

He said: “The force and I have absorbed the current cuts. We had to, the country was overdrawn at the bank, austerity called, and the police changed the way they did business to deliver the service with a fifth of the budget removed.

“As PCC I am proud that despite the cuts, by doing things differently and driving out savings, we have achieved a 20 per cent drop in funding yet still ring-fenced PCSO’s and opened up police officer recruitment.”

Outlining concerns over future funding he said “it is the future cuts that worry me, not the past ones.” He added: “If you examine the recent Institute for Fiscal Studies report, which has examined all major parties manifestos, it is clear that the Treasury may impose cuts of six per cent per year, over the term of the next Parliament.

“That equates to a 41 per cent cut in funding for Dorset Police from 2010 to 2019.

“And don’t forget we are already one of the lowest funded Forces per head of population. It equates to a huge amount of staffing being removed.

“If the force faces more cuts like that, PCSO numbers and Safer Neighbourhood Teams are hugely under threat.

“The whole neighbourhood policing model establi- shed over the last decade could go.

“That’s because the Chief Constable has to protect the public, has to prioritise “risk and harm” compared to crime prevention and public reassurance, which neighbourhood policing brings.

“The policing response to a 999 call, the policing response to an armed incident or the policing response to a rape allegation will always come before a bobby walking the beat.

“The Cuts have Consequences campaign isn’t about politics, it’s an informative programme, highlighting and increasing public awareness.

“What is political is that all politicians need to know, and so do the public, that if the cuts keep coming, policing in Dorset will change forever.

“Surely there are other areas where savings can be made which will impact less on the safety of our society. Time will tell.”