THE constabulary’s efforts to re-frame their financial crisis as a move towards leaner and more effective policing in Gloucestershire wasn’t quite enough to quell fears of a major blow to the service.

The press conference held by Gloucestershire Constabulary on Monday – an exercise in damage limitation – saw crime commissioner Martin Surl and other force chiefs wax lyrical about a new structure for operational policing.

Unfortunately, very little was actually said at the conference – on the surface, at least. What most strongly resonated was the worrying subtext: we’re in trouble.

Despite pushing positives such as the development of mobile technology and more flexibility with neighbourhood policing areas, the inevitability of redundancies was ever apparent, like the ghost at the feast.

Most striking about the police’s announcement were the inconsistencies with which it was riddled. One of the lead points was the assertion that the changes would see police spend more time “on the beat”, yet when asked about smaller communities Mr Surl said there would be substantially fewer officers around.

Furthermore, in what world does a loss of £20 million equate to a stronger more effective anything?

To his credit, Mr Surl did say in a moment of stone-faced honesty that the service would be delivering less of what the public would like from the police.