Police lose a million pounds worth of radios - Brake

2.59.00pm GMT Mon 5th Jan 2009

The police have lost over 2,500 digital radios, including over a thousand so far this year, at a cost of nearly a million pounds according to research by the Liberal Democrats.

The information, contained in a Parliamentary answer shows that:

• The police have lost 2,699 Airwave radios in the last six years

• So far in 2008, 1,056 have been lost, a substantial increase on the 641 in 2007

• The Metropolitan Police has lost 556 Airwave radios so far this year. Greater Manchester Police have lost 645 over five years and West Midlands 264 over four years

• The estimated total cost of the lost radios is nearly £1 million, with nearly £200,000 worth lost by the Met last year

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesman, Tom Brake said:

"Things do go missing but these figures demonstrate a particularly wasteful use of police resources.

"Airwave radios are a vital tool for the police and must be treated as such.

"There must be serious concerns about what could happen to any of these radios that fall into the wrong hands.

"This is one league table the Met doesn't want to be at the top of. They appear to be suffering from institutional carelessness."