THE number of violent crimes in Surrey increased by 48 per cent in 2015.

Paul Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat candidate to become the next Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner in May, said: “People will be incredibly concerned to learn of this massive rise in violent crime. In just two years recorded violent crimes have risen by 80 per cent in Surrey.

“To make matters worse, as a result of George Osborne’s budget cuts, Surrey police are having to cut more than 250 jobs at the same time crime rates are rising.

“It’s appalling that instead of being able to focus on keeping residents safe and tackling violent crime, Surrey police are having to worry about £25 million worth of budget cuts over the next four years.”

But Surrey’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Kevin Hurley, announced this week that the force has taken on additional police probationers, raising its total number of officers higher than it has been in four years.

He said: “In a time of austerity and budget cuts when all other police forces in the south have seen officer numbers slashed, we in Surrey have recently recruited and are training probationers who will raise our complement higher than it has been since I was elected in 2012.

“We now have 1,944 officers whereas in 2012 there were 1,940.”

Editor’s Comment:

We have asked Paul Kennedy and Kevin Hurley for a response to a number of questions about topical issues surrounding their candidacy. Readers will have already seen the responses from David Munro in a recent article on this site.