Beat bobbies get younger
A crisis in policing has led to a drastic shortage of experienced front-line officers in London and the South-East.
Nearly a third of the capital's patrolling police officers are now probationers with less than two years' experience, while in some boroughs the figure is estimated to be as high as 60 per cent.
The figure is also soaring in the Home Counties. In Surrey, 75 per cent of officers patrolling areas bordering London are new recruits.
Met Commissioner Sir John Stevens admitted the imbalance between experienced and inexperienced officers was "worryingî® He has set up a special unit to coordinate police postings to ensure the situation does not get out of hand in individual boroughs.
The Met has struggled to retain experienced officers while, at the same time, trying to recruit 7,000 extra police - taking the total to 35,000 - in the next five years.
Experienced officers are also being drafted in to specialist squads such as Special Branch and the Anti-Terrorist Branch to meet the international terror threat.
In an interview with Police Review magazine, Sir John said: "In a 10-year-period we went from 29,000 officers to 25,000, as the population of London went up something like 750,000.
"Because of our declining numbers we have had to take on probationers. But what we have to do is hold on to experienced officers, hold on to people after 30 years."
In a controversial move the Met is using its £6,000 pay advantage to poach officers from other forces, breaching a previous unwritten rule. It has taken out radio adverts in counties such as Surrey, but was forced to shelve one plan to drive flatbed lorries draped with adverts around Guildford after one senior local officer condemned the scheme as "despicable".
Astonishingly, Surrey Police admits if present trends continue its entire front-line force - officers on patrol and manning response cars - will be made up of probationers in five years.
The county's chief constable, Denis O'Connor, lobbied Home Secretary David Blunkett for a pay rise for his officers but without success. A Surrey Police source said: "We are concerned we will start seeing a deterioration in the quality of service and mistakes being made."
Surrey is now trying to attract recruits with offers such as free fuel, home insurance vouchers and cheap car loans.
Met Federation chairman Glen Smyth said: "Policing is a complex job at times and we are expecting an awful lot from inexperienced people."
A Yard spokeswoman said: "Recruits have 18 weeks' training at Hendon and then 10 weeks' supervised work on the streets. Probationers will also always be accompanied by a more experienced colleague."
