Hertsmere Borough Council will no longer pay for police community support officers (PCSOs) and plans to establish its own scheme of enforcement officers.
The dedicated scheme will put the local authority ‘in direct control’ of its community’s needs, Cllr Christian Gray said.
Hertfordshire’s police and crime commissioner David Lloyd said it was ‘unhelpful’ that the funding had been withdrawn.
The council previously allocated £130,700 annually to Hertfordshire Constabulary, whose matched funding enabled payment for seven PCSOs.
The combined council and constabulary funding brought the number of PCSOs in the borough to 22.
The council said only one of 10 other local authorities in Hertfordshire had continued to participate in a match funding scheme with the constabulary.
Even a council led by the deputy police and crime commissioner did not operate a PCSO match funding scheme, Hertsmere BC said.
The constabulary’s ‘ongoing recruitment challenges’ left the local authority allocating budgets to posts that did not exist, according to Cllr Gray, who holds the portfolio for communities, neighbours and enforcement.
PCC Mr Lloyd said: ‘The public repeatedly told me that it was important for them to have more officers on the streets, so it is unhelpful that this funding has been withdrawn.
‘Nationally and across Hertfordshire their numbers have dropped over the past few years as many decided to become police officers, but recruitment efforts are underway to restore their numbers.’
