A top cop who probed a string of high-profile murders has warned the UK faces “anarchy” if police face yet more budget cuts.
Kevin Moore says violent crime has risen because of frontline shortages.
He said: “I think we have reached the point where we are no longer in control of the streets.”
The ex-Chief Superintendent – who led a review into the hunt for 13-year-old Milly Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield, 50 – said politicians had stopped listening to veteran police officers.
Mr Moore said: “The likes of Theresa May doesn’t listen to the likes of me, that have been policing for a lifetime.
“I know a little bit about it. I know what’s required, but politicians don’t.
“They don’t deal with murder inquiries or see violence first hand. They don’t visit a victim’s family and tell them their relatives have been killed.”
Home Office statistics show police numbers fell from 143,734 in March 2010 to 123,142 in March 2017.
Last month public spending watchdog the National Audit Office said ministers did not know what effect these cuts had on policing.
In August the new head of the Police Federation, John Apter, warned the public was being failed and Tory cuts were creating “a crisis”.
Earlier this year a leaked Home Office report found police cuts “likely contributed” to a rise in violent crime.
Annual figures revealed a 20 per cent rise in gun, knife and serious violent crime across England and Wales.
Ex-Sussex cop Mr Moore, 61, retired this year after 40 years’ service.
He believes crime-fighting in the UK is at crisis point and added: “There are one or two big-hitting chief constables who are starting to say to the Government we just can’t do it any more.
“But sadly, politicians and the Government aren’t doing anything. The police can no longer guarantee the safety of the public. That’s the biggest consequence.
“The biggest reason for the police is to maintain the safety of the public. With these cuts you can no longer guarantee that.
“We used to have officers on the streets turning over youngsters and finding weapons. We don’t any more.”
Mr Moore is calling for a Royal Commission “root and branch” review of policing – amid fears private companies could take control of law and order.
He added: “It’s like a slide into anarchy. The police no longer record details of lost property from the public. That’s been privatised.
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“You could argue that’s never been a police matter, but it’s the thin end of the wedge. That’s where it starts. The worst-run prisons are the ones that are privatised.
“Where the probation service is failing is within the private sector. They don’t understand the business.”
In his new book, My Way, Mr Moore details how policing has changed since he was a rookie cop.
Extracts also reveal his unique insight on some of the most shocking cases to strike the UK in recent decades.
Top cop’s high-profile casebook
Milly Dowler, 13: Mr Moore was drafted in to lead a review into Surrey Police’s probe. Sussex Police made a series of recommendations before the teen’s body was found. Levi Bellfield – who took the lives of two other women – was convicted of murdering Milly, from Walton-on-Thames.
Mr Moore said: “This high profile case was really good experience. It highlighted the highly sensitive nature that such matters generate.”
Sion Jenkins, 60: In 1997, Sion Jenkins was convicted of killing foster daughter Billie-Jo, 13, and jailed for life. Six years later Mr Jenkins, of Hastings, was acquitted and the case remains unsolved.
Moore, No2 on the case, said: “It was a massively high-profile and emotive investigation. I learned a lot about myself as a leader and as a senior detective.”
Jean Daddow, 58: She got 18 years in 1993 for hiring a gunman to shoot her husband Terry through the heart on their doorstep in Northiam, East Sussex.
Mr Moore said: “Terry had unusual sexual tendencies and Jean appeared to be growing tired of these and of Terry more generally. This provided a perfect recipe for murder.”
Dena Thompson, 58: She got life in 2003 for the 1994 poison murder of partner Julian Webb on his 31st birthday. She was rumbled after an incident with her second husband.
Mr Moore ran a cold case review and said: “It involved the body having to be exhumed – necessary as Webb was poisoned over a period of time.”
- Kevin’s book, My Way, is published by Saron Publishers and is out now.
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