POLICE leaders say planned cuts should not affect neighbourhood policing.
Staffordshire Police will have to find �22 million in savings over the next two years due to Government funding reductions.
The force hopes to save money through streamlined management structures and more efficient back office operations.
But at a briefing for Stoke-on-Trent city councillors yesterday, senior officers insisted that beat PCs and PCSOs would be retained.
Deputy Chief Constable Douglas Paxton told the councillors that the force would have to address staffing issues, as pay accounted for 85 per cent of its budget.
Last year staff numbers were reduced by 290, through a combination of a recruitment freeze and natural turnover.
But DCC Paxton said the force had still managed to meet its targets for reducing crime and protecting people, a record he believed would continue.
He said: "We will be moving to leaner, flatter management structures, with fewer inspectors and fewer chief inspectors, and fewer managers sitting in a support function.
"But we will be keeping neighbourhood resources at the same level.
"We are trying to move towards having more police staff, as they are more cost effective than police officers. We just have to get the roles right.
"The most important thing is that we make sure that the outcomes for the community stay the same."
While all PCSOs funded by Staffordshire Police will be retained, others paid for by partner organisations could face the axe.
Figures obtained by The Sentinel show Staffordshire Police employed 2,156 police officers, 1,482 police staff and 238 PCSOs on October 1 last year.
DCC Paxton said detectives would be reorganised into "investigation hubs" to make them more effective.
Stoke-on-Trent Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Bernie O'Reilly explained that from April the city would be served by three local policing teams.
These will cover the north, central and south areas, with each being led by a chief inspector.
The police stations in Hanley, Longton, Tunstall, Stoke and Burslem, together with the Bucknall police post, will all be retained.
Ch Supt O'Reilly said: "My view of success would be that on April 5, people do not notice any difference.
"They will still be dealing with the same beat officer."
Staffordshire Police received �130 million from the Government in 2010/11.
This will fall to �123 million in the next financial year, and �115 million in 2012/13.
Funding levels for the following two years have not yet been announced but smaller cuts are expected.
As well as reducing staffing levels, the force will also look to reduce non-pay spending by �3 million next year.
This will be achieved by greater collaboration with other forces and partner organisations in areas such as IT and building costs.
David Pearsall, chairman of Staffordshire Police Authority, said that while he and his colleagues were opposed to many of the proposals in the Government's Police Reform Bill, they did welcome the increased role for volunteers.
He said: "We have some excellent volunteers in our Specials. They are the best performing Specials in the four forces in the West Midlands.
"We currently have 340, but we will be looking to increase this to 500.
"But it's important to stress that these will be in addition to our other resources. We won't be replacing paid officers with volunteers."
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