Police Under Pressure

Uneasy Peace (1x1)

: 23, 2014

British policing is under pressure like never before as forces up and down the country try to cope with the biggest cuts to their budgets in modern times. South Yorkshire Police has more trouble than most. It is struggling to rebuild a reputation tainted by the tragedy of Hillsborough and some of the worst crime figures in Britain. It is also struggling to keep the peace in some of its most difficult neighbourhoods. In some parts of Sheffield, tension between the existing white and Asian communities and newly arrived Roma from Eastern Europe is threatening to boil over into violence. In other areas, an epidemic of anti-social behaviour threatens to spiral out of control. With exclusive access to both officers on the ground and the most senior ranks, this follows the neighbourhood police team in Sheffield's toughest patch as they try to maintain order while coping with ever decreasing resources. The film raises fundamental questions about the state of modern policing: with cuts biting ever deeper, is it time to accept there are certain things the police just can't afford to do?