It's not because of cuts, I don't know why so many on this site loves pretending it is. There have been issues like this long before this gov. People like to pretend there is no corruption, no brutality, no rank closing, no police officers who don't really care, no lazy officers etc... they're all wonderful people who only have the communities safety at heart. This is dangerous imo, because not only are the general public shouted down when trying to point out failings, but officers who don't rank close are treated appallingly.
There are obviously some amazing officers, ones who will try their hardest to help that woman who's just been beaten up by her boyfriend, or catch the person who mugged an old lady, or who don't see race before evidence, whatever it is, but let's not pretend all of them have their hearts in the job and are in the job for the right reasons.
One station in particular in London for example was well known for being corrupt for many many years, other stations/forces would even "joke" about it. It was well known. It goes on and on for too long because people can't say anything about it without everybody jumping to their defence and acting like all police are amazing and you're an ungrateful twat for saying otherwise. What can be done though, if everybody ignores there is a problem and when they do acknowledge there is a problem "it's the government"
I know a poor older lady who ended up being arrested because the police were getting annoyed at her because she kept calling them trying to get her abusive husband out. They repeatedly told her they can't remove him from the house because he's old and he lives there too so it isn't fair. They were annoyed by her calls and didn't try to hide it. In the end, she was arrested. Released of course, with no charge. But it worked, because she knew to stop calling them. So she will now either choose homelessness or living the rest of her years out with a man who has abused her for longer than I've even been alive. Really heartbreaking. Even more heartbreaking that her story isn't that unique.
The country would go to pot without the police, we need them, and on the whole do an amazing job, I appreciate them. But let's not pretend there are no problems, and when we do acknowledge problems, don't just blame it on the government, even though these problems are far from a new thing. We are lucky to have the police we have in Britain in a way though. They might not be perfect, but they're a whole lot better than many other countries who claim to be fair. And let's face it, not many people would choose to try and take down a massive violent guy who you know probably has a knife or something on him or sit in a small room interviewing a murderer. Some have piss thrown at them in public. They do something most people couldn't do, but that doesn't mean they're all amazing and that there are no problems. They're just human like the rest of us, and that means there are good people and bad people amongst them. Pretending they're all good is dangerous and means problems won't be solved.