Police plan to use security guards instead of officers to guard crime scenes.

Sussex Police are looking to start a 12-month pilot with private security company Securitas in April. The force said this would free up officers’ time but a union has expressed “serious reservations”.

Superintendent Lawrence Hobbs told The Argus: “Police have been in discussions with Securitas UK, a private security firm, who we already use for security at our estates, to use their staff to guard crime scenes.

“The idea of this is to free up police officers and PCSOs, who are used to guard crime scenes, for frontline duties.”

Three other police forces – Dorset, Avon and Somerset, and Devon and Cornwall – use Securitas to guard crime scenes.

Andy Stenning, secretary of the Sussex Police branch of the union Unison, said he was shocked to learn of the plan.

He said: “Nobody from the command team has had the decency to speak to the union. I am disappointed that there has not been any consultation.

“We would have very serious reservations and it would be a point of contention between the branch and the force.

“For a start, police officers have not guarded crime scenes for a number of years. It is a function of PCSOs and it is in their job description.

“They get paid to do that and if they have somebody else to do that the implication will be that they will have part of their job description changed.

“They are trying to privatise something through the back door, which is reprehensible.”

The force has to save about £55 million by 2020, on top of huge cuts already enacted. Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney said earlier this week that it was inevitable that the police force would employ fewer people.

She added: “Our aim is to deliver policing more efficiently through embracing technology and multi-agency working.”

Mark White, from the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said he supported the plan.

He said: “What is the point of having a fully trained police officer standing outside a crime scene when they could be better deployed elsewhere.

“We pointed out in an open letter last week that [due to funding cuts] the police will not be able to do the range of things that they currently do.”