Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) tells us that “overstretched police forces are having to ‘pick up the pieces of a broken mental health system’ on top of tackling crime”.

As an experienced police officer, for me the standout words in that sentence are “having to”. The police are never closed, can’t knock off early and are always the last line of defence. We can never say “no”. This seems a far cry from the partnership working ethos of the noughties, when there was so much overlap between services that people were far better supported. In these austere times, services continue to “shrink apart”, and vulnerable people are falling through the gaps.

I read with deep concern that “the top five individual repeat callers to the Metropolitan Police Service (all of whom have mental health problems) called a combined total of 8,655 times in 2017. It cost the service £70,000 just to answer the calls.” That’s a startling figure, as £70,000 equates to two full-time police officers managing five people.

With the sad decline of community policing, what our police have become is very much a “response service”. What meaningful response can the police offer the same five individuals 8,655 times? Without knowing the details, I would suggest those callers need a comprehensive support plan. Is the police force the appropriate agency to manage that? Almost certainly not.

I’ve already said that we can’t say “no”… or can we?

Here’s the elephant in the room, the question no one wants to answer: at what point do we say “enough is enough”, make the referral to adult services and simply block the repeat caller’s number? Surely your answer is never, as they are vulnerable and at risk of harm. The reason we think like that is because those five people are real, identifiable and the police have a duty of care towards them. Just imagine what the headlines would be if we blocked their call and one came to significant harm?

Now consider the people we cannot identify and quantify – the callers who couldn’t get through because the police were busy dealing with those 8,655 calls. What if they too were vulnerable, and some almost certainly were? What if they came to significant harm or even died – and they may have? Where was our duty of care to them?

Police 'picking up pieces of mental health system', says watchdog Read more

These are the decisions that the police service has to consider as the pressure on resources continues to build. Of course, all conscientious, hard-working coppers hate the fact that they can no longer provide a premium service. The vast majority blame the Tory government’s austerity policy, but many also blame the chief officers who put ambition before integrity and remained silent when the squeeze came. You know who you are – keeping your heads down, quietly selling off building stock, sharing specialist services and outsourcing anything you could lay your hands on.

I can feel the winds of change now, though. A small handful of bosses have started to quietly protest in the last couple of years and now they are growing in numbers and beginning to roar. Hardly a week goes by when I don’t read about another chief making a stand against the “centre”, for instance by planning legal action against government cuts, or demanding more resources from the Home Office.

Good for you. I applaud you. It’s not too late, and we can still save the finest police service in the world, but it really is time to stand up and be counted now before it’s gone. The public, who have seen their council tax increase and their level of service from the police drop, don’t have to wait for the election ballot box; they can lobby their MPs to reverse cuts now. The Police Federation of England and Wales is highlighting the public health risk because of police cuts, and the rising assaults on police themselves due to austerity. Some experienced officers became despondent about the crippling cuts and left the force, exacerbating the problem. Those who remain need to try to put their disenchantment behind them and support their chiefs against the common adversary. And now, the HMICFRS has stepped in.

The HMICFRS is our inspectorate, not our friend. They are described as “independent assessors”, but are considered by most in policing circles to be very corporate and by the very nature of their work, critical. When even they start feeling sorry for the police, and risk raising their heads above the parapet to offer outspoken support, then you know we’re in deep trouble.

• Alfie Moore recently retired after more than 20 years’ service with Humberside police