Police resources

All the Hawkins defenders (a small but brave tribe) say George is not to blame on how the Police Commissioner assigns staff, as this is an operational decision.

Not so.

In 2002 the Police got 375 extra staff. George ring-fenced them so that 285 (76%) were for traffic duties only, 33 for counter-terrorism and 27 for youth aid.

The Commissioner actually complained “The task-specific nature of these allocations has been eroding the flexibility historically available to me and to district commanders to distribute resources across emerging problem areas in a timely or responsive manner.”

This of course did not stop George telling porkies, such as “that it is up to the commissioner how extra resources for police are used”.

Liar, liar, pants on fire.