No police on the beat in South Yorkshire?

Interesting bit of news on the TV this morning – I had to pinch myself.

South Yorkshire’s Chief Constable has a plan to use his Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to replace police officers on beat patrols.  His idea is to match the duties of the PCSOs and the Police Officers with their powers and better utilize his warranted officers. Apparently, the numbers of police officers and PCSOs in the force area will remain the same.

Jim Lucas, from the force’s Police Federation, is not happy with the proposals and fears that as the police will only ever be seen when arrests are made they’ll end up being seen as the bad guys.

The Chief’s proposals are to be considered by South Yorkshire Police Authority today.  For a fuller account visit the BBC