Tories did not cut police for fun, says leader
PA MediaThe Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she did not accept police cuts by the Conservative-led coalition government in 2010 were a mistake.
Labour MPs in the Cleveland Police area said the force was struggling to tackle the highest crime levels in England, partly because it lost 400 officers when David Cameron was prime minister.
Extra police officers were brought into the force to support the investigation which followed the death of two police officers and five young men in a crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough in August.
In a BBC interview ahead of her party's annual conference, Badenoch said tough choices had to be made because "there was no money" left by the previous Labour government.
"I will acknowledge that Labour left us with no money and very difficult decisions had to be made," Badenoch said.
"Nobody cuts police officers for fun."
The Tory leader said Labour "had no plan" for Middlesbrough and she would be putting people in prison rather than releasing them.
Hundreds of criminals have been released early to prevent prisons reaching capacity, but the government stressed they would remain subject to strict monitoring arrangements, including the expanded use of electronic tagging.
Cleveland PolicePCs Matthew Blades and Tom Clough died on 22 August when a car travelling the wrong way crashed head-on into their marked police vehicle.
The five people in the Passat were Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and 17-year-olds Theo Rae and Cole Robert Worthy.
Four of the five killed had previous convictions, including for assaulting police officers, Cleveland Police revealed.
In the wake of the crash, the government gave the force an extra £2m to tackle organised crime but said its budget was rising.
Badenoch said if it got into government, her party would employ 10,000 more police officers across the country, including "many more" in Cleveland to help people she said were being "terrorised in their own homes".
According to the Conservatives, the pledge would see Cleveland get 92 more officers, Northumbria 236 and Durham 102.
The BBC has been talking to leading figures from the main parties ahead of their conferences.