article: Ed Miliband today pledged to protect the jobs of 10,000 police officers as Labour claimed Tory cuts had allowed rapists and violent criminals to go free. The Labour leader said the bobby on the beat is 'at risk of disappearing', while rising numbers of serious criminals 'are being let off the hook'. But the launch of Labour's criminal justice plans risked being over-shadowed by the news that the party's police adviser, Lord Stephens, is be investigated over hotly disputed allegations of a cover-up of police corruption in the bungled Stephen Lawrence murder probe. Labour leader Ed Miliband said the bobby on the beat is 'at risk of disappearing', while rising numbers of serious criminals 'are being let off the hook' Mr Miliband hopes to get back on the front foot today with the promise of action to protect community policing. It comes after the chaotic launch of a plan to abolish non-dom tax status for foreigners and a deeply personal row with the Tories over claims he 'stabbed his brother in the back' and would do the same to Britain to get into power. Today Labour claims the police are 'struggling to keep up' with the rise in child sexual exploitation, terrorism and online crime while public safety is being 'put at risk' by a chaotic prison and probation system. Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) would be axed to help fund the £800 million plan to guarantee neighbourhood policing across England and Wales. PCCs were set up by the Tories to increase accountability, but turnout was just 15 per cent in elections held in 2011. Mr Miliband said: 'Because of the Conservatives' decisions, neighbourhood policing - the foundation of good British policing - is at risk of disappearing, whilst increasing numbers of serious criminals are being let off the hook. 'Labour has a better plan. We will make different choices, finding savings to safeguard 10,000 officers in the next three years. 'We will ensure victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system with the country's first ever victims' law. And we will ensure the police have the powers they need to keep us safe, including proper controls for dangerous terror suspects.' Mr Miliband and shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper joined with police officers from Ollerton Police Station during a walk around New Ollerton in Nottinghamshire . Ms Cooper claimed the Tories were planning deeper cuts to policing in the next Parliament 'even though the police are already struggling to keep up with rising complex cases' New laws would introduce a local policing commitment that required forces to guarantee neighbourhood policing and 10,000 officers would be safeguarded for three years, the party said. Axing the PCCs combined with charging higher fees for gun licences and requiring police forces to share services and carry out joint procurement would fund the plans, according to Labour. Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington headed an independent commission on policing by the Labour party. However, last night it emerged the former Metropolitan Police commissioner and crossbench peer, is to be investigated over the Lawrence murder inquiry. Labour said new laws would introduce a local policing commitment that required forces to guarantee neighbourhood policing and 10,000 officers would be safeguarded for three years . The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it will investigate claims that the former Met chief failed to hand over key information to the Macpherson Inquiry regarding the black teenager’s race hate killing. The watchdog probe stems from a complaint from Stephen’s father Neville Lawrence. Lord Stevens was deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1998 to 2000 – while the Macpherson Inquiry report was being compiled – before serving five years as the UK’s most senior policeman. The complaint concerns a letter to the Macpherson Inquiry in 1998, in which Lord Stevens stated that no officer or former officer involved in giving evidence was under investigation for corruption. It is alleged that the letter included misleading information. A source said: ‘Any suggestion that anyone from the Met would seek to withhold the truth from the Macpherson Inquiry at that time is completely untrue. Last year Mark Ellison wrote to Lord Stevens to say he had done nothing wrong.’ Last night, Channel 4 News – which revealed details of the IPCC probe into Lord Stevens – quoted him as saying: ‘Step very carefully, I’m not putting up with any more c**p about this.’ Quoting from a letter he received from Mr Ellison, Lord Stevens was reported to have said: ‘No one is suggesting that you did anything that was culpable in any way.’ Despite the revelation, Lord Stevens was quoted by Labour backing their policing plans. He said: 'This is the right plan for neighbourhood policing, following the plans set out by the independent commission I had the pleasure to chair. 'It is not credible to say you can take away resources on the scale the Government are talking about without wiping out neighbourhood policing. ;And it doesn't show the right priorities to be spending significant sums on police and crime commissioners, nor to be ideologically opposed to the shared services and joint procurement that simply must be driven through.' 'Cover-up': Former Met Police commissioner Lord Stevens (left) is to be investigated into allegations of a cover-up over the Stephen Lawrence murder probe in the nineties . Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'Under the Tories we've seen fewer police on the beat, longer waits for 999 calls and less justice for victims as there have been fewer arrests and prosecutions for rising crimes like violence, rape or child sex offences. 'Now they plan deeper cuts to policing in the next Parliament even though the police are already struggling to keep up with rising complex cases such as child sexual exploitation, terrorism or online crime.' Labour's manifesto will commit to improved crime prevention and the introduction of a new child protection unit to tackle sexual exploitation. Prison reforms would see inmates spend more time working and learning while the controversial Prevent programme Labour introduced to stop radicalisation would be overhauled as part of plans to deal with the growing terror threat. But Tory Home Secretary Theresa May said the Government had increased the proportion of officers on the frontline. She added: 'These are the same tired, unfunded promises from a Labour party who tied up the police with red tape and central targets, and who have opposed everything we have done to help the police do more with less. 'People have had enough of Labour's made-up numbers and scaremongering. When we started to clear up the mess left by their legacy of debt, they warned that crime would rise. They were wrong: crime is down by more than a fifth under this Government, and has never been lower.'
highlights: Miliband warns cuts mean rapists and violent criminals have gone free .
  Pledge to scrap Police and Crime Commissioners to save money .
  Ex-Met chief Lord Stevens carried out policing review for Labour .
  Faces probe over claim he did not give information to Macpherson inquiry .
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