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It is "dishonest" for ministers to pretend that frontline policing will not be affected by spending cuts, a former Metropolitan Police Commissioner told peers.
The police budget faces a real-terms cut of more than 20 per cent in the next four years as a result of last month's government spending review, with the majority of cuts coming in the next two years.
Conservative peer Viscount Bridgeman led a debate on the role of the police on Thursday, in particular the role of elected police commissioners.
Lord Condon, who led Scotland Yard from 1993 to 2000, told peers that cuts to the police budget cannot be achieved by "salami-slice savings".
He said: "Many thousands of police and civilian jobs will go and tough but necessary decisions and tough choices will have to be made."
The crossbench peer acknowledged that the police service neither could nor should be exempt from public spending cuts. "And mature decisions will have to be made about what can and what cannot be done."
He added: "There must not be a dishonest pretence that the status quo can prevail or that frontline policing will not be affected."
Home Office spokesman Lord Wallace of Saltaire responded on behalf of the government, insisting that it would be possible "to maintain the police front line while reducing costs".
The Liberal Democrat whip said: "That is our aim and intention. We are looking very much as to how far we can reduce costs by reducing reporting requirements, time spent on administration and so on and so forth."
He told peers: "It will be tough but we will do what we can. That means slashing the bureaucracy that gets in officers' way."
He added that budgets for individual police forces in England and Wales would be published next month.
There was also strong criticism from former vice-chair of the Thames Valley Police Authority Lord Bradshaw of coalition plans to replace police authorities with elected "policing and crime commissioners".
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