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Scottish Sun
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
How police forces are demanding more taxpayers' cash to fight crime while spending millions on ‘woke' diversity schemes
Meanwhile, around one million work days are lost to diversity training across the public sector WOKE & BROKE How police forces are demanding more taxpayers' cash to fight crime while spending millions on 'woke' diversity schemes Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MISGUIDED police forces are demanding extra public money while spending millions of pounds on 'woke' diversity schemes, we can reveal. Five of Britain's biggest constabularies this week wrote an open letter to the government insisting they are desperately short of funds, despite being handed almost £1billion extra by the Home Office. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Woke police forces reckon they should get more government funding Credit: PA Yet a Sun probe today shows the extraordinary amounts being spent on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion roles by the very same forces. Freedom of Information requests show that in the last year, the Met spent £3.6million, West Yorkshire Police blew over £1million, West Midlands Police paid out £222,378 and Greater Manchester Police spent £335,653. Merseyside Police — which failed to respond to our FOI request — is believed to have allocated a similar amount. In total, this would have paid for an extra 139 bobbies on the beat, given the average police officer salary is £35,890. Meanwhile, around one million work days are lost to diversity training across the public sector, according to pressure group Conservative Way Forward, draining resources. 'High workloads' The Met employed 51 officers and staff in 'culture, diversity and inclusion' roles between April 2024 and February. This was paid for by record funding of £1.148billion, which accounted for 27 per cent of City Hall's annual budget — up eight per cent on 2016. Across the country, a total of £19.5billion has been allocated for policing as part of the government's Plan for Change programme, an increase of £987million on last year. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is calling for more funding after the capital saw a 41 per cent rise in theft and a 58 per cent hike in shoplifting last year. Total recorded crime went up by two per cent in the same period, according to the Office for National Statistics, while sexual offences were up six per cent, robbery rose four per cent and theft increased by eight per cent. Phone muggings and stabbings have also spiralled, with ONS data showing 188 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument were recorded per 100,000 of the capital's population last year, the highest in the UK. 'It's mind-boggling!' Woke cops need to prevent REAL crime and stop policing tweets, rages Reform MP Meanwhile, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has rated the Met 'inadequate' at investigating crime. Its 2025 report states: 'Supervisors in investigation teams have little or no training in how to manage crime workloads.' Police Federation Of England and Wales acting chair Tiffany Lynch has warned 'we are on track to lose 10,000 officers a year' as senior bobbies quit — and it will cost £10billion over five years to replace them. Meanwhile, West Yorkshire Police — whose Chief Constable John Robins put his name to this week's letter — has been slammed for prioritising ethnic minority recruits. There was outrage this year when it was reported that under-represented groups were allowed to submit an 'early expression of interest' in work before white British recruits. The force denied discrimination, but one Facebook user raged: 'So much for diversity and inclusion.' Another added: 'Surely this is racist. This wouldn't be allowed the other way around?' Robins' force budgeted £1,069,188 to employ 19 inclusion and diversity staff, in both uniformed and non-uniformed roles. They include three diversity, equality and inclusion officers costing £45,924 a year each; two administrative assistants costing £30,912 a time; and six uniformed positive action ambassadors on £59,844. A uniformed positive action inspector costs £94,272 per annum, and the constabulary is also paying out £361,000 to an external provider for equality and diversity training. While that is happening, West Yorkshire has the highest crime rate of the five constabularies calling for more funds, with 115.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 of the population last year, ONS data shows. Sexual offences are up 11 per cent, vehicle offences are up four per cent and shoplifting is up by two per cent. The latest HMICFRS evaluation concluded West Yorkshire's crime investigation 'requires improvement'. The report said team supervisors complained of being 'affected by high workloads, dealing with daily prisoner demand and supporting inexperienced officers'. 'Saddled with debt' Elsewhere, West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford has fears of an 'overstretched police service saddled with debt, broken buildings and outdated technology'. He cut his DEI team in half last year after his force spent £184,602 on diversity and inclusion training since 2019. This year, it employed a sergeant and an inspector in DEI roles, earning at least £112,605 between them based on current annual pay brackets. It also retained two police staff earning £81,000 in total for doing a similar role, while £28,773 was spent on DEI training. ONS data shows West Midlands Police recorded the highest rate of knife crime outside London last year — 156 offences per 100,000 people. There was a 32 per cent increase in shoplifting during the same period, and the force was rated inadequate in how it investigates crime, protects vulnerable people and manages offenders/suspects in its most recent inspection, which concluded that 46 per cent of its investigations are not effective. The report states: 'We found the force hasn't made enough progress improving the standard of its investigations since our last inspection. 'As a result, not enough offenders are being brought to justice. 'We acknowledge the force does a good job of investigating many of the most serious crimes. But in our crime file review, we judged that only 54 of 100 investigations were effective. This is concerning.' The Met wants more funding after a 41% rise in theft and a 58% hike in shoplifting last year yet it employed 51 officers and staff in 'culture, diversity and inclusion' roles Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson is another calling for more funding. His force is currently spending £335,653 a year paying three uniformed officers promoting diversity and inclusion, although 'all training is completed in-house,' according to a response to our FOI request. Residents are concerned that sexual offences were up five per cent last year, while shoplifting rose by 20 per cent. HMICFRS inspectors have flagged issues with how the force monitors registered sex offenders, finding a backlog of 1,490 home visits had built up by 2023. The report added: 'At the end of our inspection period, the force told us that backlogs had been reduced to 163 overdue visits. As a result, it is considering keeping the structure it developed as part of its successful plan to reduce overdue visits.' Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Serena Kennedy, was another signatory, along with Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council. Shocking statistics Sexual offences rose by seven per cent on Merseyside last year, according to the ONS, while shoplifting jumped by 13 per cent and drug offences rose eight per cent. The latest HMICFRS review found a significant backlog of sex offender cases, stating: 'The force doesn't have clear governance or oversight . . . to manage risks posed by online child abuse offenders. 'There are unnecessary delays in consulting with social services to start safeguarding children.' The Taxpayers' Alliance say UK police diversity jobs have increased by almost a third in three years, costing £15million since the beginning of the 2021-22 financial year. This nonsensical obsession with diversity has to end. Anything else is a waste of time and money Chris Philp The drive is already proving controversial, with Hertfordshire Constabulary criticised for advising staff not to use 'Sir' and 'Ma'am' when addressing the public. And Staffordshire Police was blasted for warning that gender specific words such as 'policeman' may be illegal. Phrases including 'man up' and 'grow a pair' also became a no-no. Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, told The Sun on Sunday: 'While families fear walking the streets and knife crime surges in Labour-run cities, their police forces are blowing millions on box-ticking vanity schemes. 'This nonsensical obsession with diversity has to end. Anything else is a waste of time and money.' A Met Police spokesman said: 'This team works to raise standards across the Met. This work will deliver better outcomes for victims.' And Catherine Hankinson, West Yorkshire's Deputy Chief Constable, said: 'Officers, staff and volunteers work tirelessly to reduce crime, protect the vulnerable and reassure the public. We aim to deliver the best possible service while remaining committed to improving equality, diversity and inclusion.'
The Irish Sun
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
How police forces are demanding more taxpayers' cash to fight crime while spending millions on ‘woke' diversity schemes
MISGUIDED police forces are demanding extra public money while spending millions of pounds on 'woke' diversity schemes, we can reveal. Five of Britain's biggest constabularies this week wrote an open letter to the government insisting they are desperately short of funds, despite being handed almost £1billion extra by the Home Office. Advertisement 1 Woke police forces reckon they should get more government funding Credit: PA Yet a Sun probe today shows the extraordinary amounts being spent on Freedom of Information requests show that in the last year, the Met spent £3.6million, West Yorkshire Police blew over £1million, West Midlands Police paid out £222,378 and Greater Manchester Police spent £335,653. Merseyside Police — which failed to respond to our FOI request — is believed to have allocated a similar amount. In total, this would have paid for an extra 139 bobbies on the beat, given the average Meanwhile, around one million work days are lost to diversity training across the public sector, according to pressure group Conservative Way Forward, draining resources. Advertisement Read More on UK News 'High workloads' The Met employed 51 officers and staff in 'culture, diversity and inclusion' roles between April 2024 and February. This was paid for by record funding of £1.148billion, which accounted for 27 per cent of City Hall's annual budget — up eight per cent on 2016. Across the country, a total of £19.5billion has been allocated for policing as part of the government's Plan for Change programme, an increase of £987million on last year. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is calling for more funding after the capital saw a 41 per cent rise in theft and a 58 per cent hike in Advertisement Most read in The Sun Total recorded crime went up by two per cent in the same period, according to the Office for National Statistics, while Phone muggings and 'It's mind-boggling!' Woke cops need to prevent REAL crime and stop policing tweets, rages Reform MP Meanwhile, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has rated the Met 'inadequate' at investigating crime. Its 2025 report states: 'Supervisors in investigation teams have little or no training in how to manage crime workloads.' Advertisement Police Federation Of England and Wales acting chair Tiffany Lynch has warned 'we are on track to lose 10,000 officers a year' as senior bobbies quit — and it will cost £10billion over five years to replace them. Meanwhile, West Yorkshire Police — whose Chief Constable John Robins put his name to this week's letter — has been slammed for prioritising ethnic minority recruits. There was outrage this year when it was reported that under-represented groups were allowed to submit an 'early expression of interest' in work before white British recruits. The force denied discrimination, but one Facebook user raged: 'So much for diversity and inclusion.' Advertisement Another added: 'Surely this is racist. This wouldn't be allowed the other way around?' Robins' force budgeted £1,069,188 to employ 19 inclusion and diversity staff, in both uniformed and non-uniformed roles. They include three diversity, equality and inclusion officers costing £45,924 a year each; two administrative assistants costing £30,912 a time; and six uniformed positive action ambassadors on £59,844. Advertisement A uniformed positive action inspector costs £94,272 per annum, and the constabulary is also paying out £361,000 to an external provider for equality and diversity training. While that is happening, West Yorkshire has the highest crime rate of the five constabularies calling for more funds, with 115.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 of the population last year, ONS data shows. Sexual offences are up 11 per cent, vehicle offences are up four per cent and shoplifting is up by two per cent. The latest HMICFRS evaluation concluded West Yorkshire's crime investigation 'requires improvement'. Advertisement The report said team supervisors complained of being 'affected by high workloads, dealing with daily prisoner demand and supporting inexperienced officers'. 'Saddled with debt' Elsewhere, West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford has fears of an 'overstretched police service saddled with debt, broken buildings and outdated technology'. He cut his DEI team in half last year after his force spent £184,602 on diversity and inclusion training since 2019. This year, it employed a sergeant and an inspector in DEI roles, earning at least £112,605 between them based on current annual pay brackets. Advertisement It also retained two police staff earning £81,000 in total for doing a similar role, while £28,773 was spent on DEI training. ONS data shows West Midlands Police recorded the highest rate of knife crime outside London last year — 156 offences per 100,000 people. There was a 32 per cent increase in The report states: 'We found the force hasn't made enough progress improving the standard of its investigations since our last inspection. Advertisement 'As a result, not enough offenders are being brought to justice. 'We acknowledge the force does a good job of investigating many of the most serious crimes. But in our crime file review, we judged that only 54 of 100 investigations were effective. This is concerning.' The Met wants more funding after a 41% rise in theft and a 58% hike in shoplifting last year yet it employed 51 officers and staff in 'culture, diversity and inclusion' roles Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson is another calling for more funding. His force is currently spending £335,653 a year paying three uniformed officers promoting diversity and inclusion, although 'all training is completed in-house,' according to a response to our FOI request. Advertisement Residents are concerned that sexual offences were up five per cent last year, while shoplifting rose by 20 per cent. HMICFRS inspectors have flagged issues with how the force monitors registered sex offenders, finding a backlog of 1,490 home visits had built up by 2023. The report added: 'At the end of our inspection period, the force told us that backlogs had been reduced to 163 overdue visits. As a result, it is considering keeping the structure it developed as part of its successful plan to reduce overdue visits.' Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Serena Kennedy, was another signatory, along with Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council. Advertisement Shocking statistics Sexual offences rose by seven per cent on Merseyside last year, according to the ONS, while shoplifting jumped by 13 per cent and The latest HMICFRS review found a significant backlog of sex offender cases, stating: 'The force doesn't have clear governance or oversight . . . to manage risks posed by online child abuse offenders. 'There are unnecessary delays in consulting with social services to start safeguarding children.' The Taxpayers' Alliance say UK police diversity jobs have increased by almost a third in three years, costing £15million since the beginning of the 2021-22 financial year. Advertisement This nonsensical obsession with diversity has to end. Anything else is a waste of time and money Chris Philp The drive is already proving controversial, with Hertfordshire Constabulary criticised for advising staff not to use 'Sir' and 'Ma'am' when addressing the public. And Staffordshire Police was blasted for warning that gender specific words such as 'policeman' may be illegal. Phrases including 'man up' and 'grow a pair' also became a no-no. 'This nonsensical obsession with diversity has to end. Anything else is a waste of time and money.' A Met Police spokesman said: 'This team works to raise standards across the Met. This work will deliver better outcomes for victims.' Advertisement And Catherine Hankinson, West Yorkshire's Deputy Chief Constable, said: 'Officers, staff and volunteers work tirelessly to reduce crime, protect the vulnerable and reassure the public. We aim to deliver the best possible service while remaining committed to improving equality, diversity and inclusion.'
Powys County Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Powys County Times
Met chief says decriminalising cannabis ‘not something we're calling for'
The head of the UK's largest police force has opposed the Mayor of London's call to decriminalise some cannabis possession. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said drug use is a 'big issue' for communities, driving anti-social behaviour and acquisitive crime, and that a change in the law on cannabis is 'not something we're calling for'. His comments follow a report by the independent London Drugs Commission (LDC) which called for the decriminalisation of small amounts of natural cannabis. The LDC, chaired by Lord Charlie Falconer, found current laws on cannabis are 'disproportionate to the harms it can pose' following a study of how the drug is policed around the world. Decriminalisation has been backed by Sir Sadiq Khan, who set up the LDC in 2022, with the mayor saying current laws on cannabis possession 'cannot be justified given its relative harm and people's experience of the justice system'. But Sir Mark, the head of London's police force, suggested during an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he would not support the plans. While he acknowledged that changing the law is a matter for Parliament, he told the BBC: 'At the moment we see drugs being at the centre of a lot of crime, whether it's drug dealing … is so linked to violence, the county lines we close down – over 80% of the people behind those lines have got violent backgrounds. 'We see a lot of communities complaining about public drug use, and that's a big issue in terms of anti-social behaviour.' He added: 'We're chasing around people who are using drugs in public, which is a concern to communities. We see drug users becoming addicted and that driving acquisitive crime. It's a big part in our current operations.' The Government has also come out against decriminalisation, with housing, communities and local government minister Matthew Pennycook telling Times Radio on Wednesday morning: 'The mayor is obviously entitled to his view on the matter but the Government position on cannabis classification remains unchanged. 'We have no intention of reclassifying cannabis from a class B substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and our focus is continuing to work with partners across health, policing and wider public services to drive down drug use, ensure more people receive timely treatment and support, and make our communities and streets safer.' Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner admitted taking 'all sorts' when asked about her personal consumption of drugs during a visit to a new housing development visit near Didcot, Oxfordshire. While the LDC report, published on Wednesday, called for a partial decriminalisation of cannabis possession, it stopped short of calling for full legalisation of the drug. Lord Falconer told the BBC: 'We don't think it would have been right to replace, for example, big tobacco, which is on the way down with big cannabis. 'If you look around the world where both possession and dealing is legalised, what you see is big commercial companies with a motive to try and make more people take cannabis, and those who take cannabis already to take more of it, and that has a detrimental effect.' Lord Falconer also challenged claims that legalisation would get rid of criminal gangs. 'Everywhere else in the world where it's been legalised, you still have a very strong black market,' he said. 'And the reason you have a strong black market is because the legal market can't meet the needs of everybody.' Instead, Lord Falconer's committee called for natural – as opposed to synthetic – cannabis to be moved from the Misuse of Drugs Act to the Psychoactive Substances Act, effectively legalising possession of small amounts for personal use while continuing to prohibit importing, manufacturing or distributing the drug. Lord Falconer said he recognises that the public do not want people 'smoking joints in the street' but said bylaws could be used to stop anti-social behaviour issues. 'I think people would be concerned if legalising cannabis made what they would regard as anti-social behaviour much more common – so they would not want to see people smoking cannabis joints openly in the street. 'They would not like to see dealing openly in the streets, and I think that's a very important consideration that was put to us. 'You can use bylaws to make sure, for example, people can't use cannabis in parks. Dealing will still be criminal, so those aspects will remain subject to control.' Under current laws, cannabis is a class B drug and those found in possession face a fine or imprisonment. LDC deputy chairwoman Janet Hills, a former Metropolitan Police detective, said the report is 'a driver for change in our community' and called for 'a more balanced and compassionate approach to policing in our city'. Sir Sadiq said: 'The London Drugs Commission report makes a compelling, evidenced-based case for the decriminalisation of possession of small quantities of natural cannabis which the Government should consider. 'It says that the current sentencing for those caught in possession of natural cannabis cannot be justified given its relative harm and people's experience of the justice system. 'We must recognise that better education, improved healthcare and more effective, equitable policing of cannabis use are long overdue.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'We will continue to work with partners across health, policing and wider public services to drive down drug use, ensure more people receive timely treatment and support, and make our streets and communities safer. 'The Government has no intention of reclassifying cannabis from a Class B substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act.' Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'Possession of cannabis should not be decriminalised like this. We have seen some US and Canadian cities devastated by soft policies on addictive and harmful drugs – now Sadiq Khan wants to send London the same way. 'Cannabis is illegal for a reason. Cannabis is associated with anti-social behaviour and heavy use can lead to serious psychosis and severed mental health problems. 'I completely oppose these plans. But with a weak Labour Government in power, there's no telling how they will react. We must stop soft Sadiq.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The prolific criminals making a mockery of Britain's justice system
Each morning, on his way to work, Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, reads a log of the incidents in which police have been involved in the capital over the previous 24 hours. On Tuesday, a significant chunk of his officers' time was spent 'chasing round a teenager who's been involved in machete attacks' and who had 'previously been arrested for firearms and machete offences', said Rowley. He went on to describe how, despite this being a repeat offence, the system had failed to keep this young man off the streets. 'We sought his remand in custody. Even under the current system he was eventually bailed,' Rowley said in an interview on Radio 4's Today programme. 'He skipped his bail on his tag, we've put massive resources into chasing him round; he's been caught with a machete again. That's going on day in, day out.' Rowley did not say how many times the teenager with the machete had been arrested before. But this example illustrates how Britain's criminal justice system has become a revolving door for the most prolific criminals. Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics show that just 10 per cent of criminals are responsible for around half of all offences. Meanwhile, thousands of prisoners have been released early under a Labour scheme that started in September last year to address an overcrowding crisis in prisons. Rowley put the issue of 'hyper-prolific' offenders at the centre of a remarkable public intervention by senior officers this week. Six of the country's most senior police chiefs, including the Met Commissioner, wrote an article in The Times newspaper, issuing a direct plea to the Government to make 'substantial investments to bolster police officer numbers, grow specialist police staff nationally and enact major police reforms'. Police have separately told the Government that they will need an extra £300 million in Rachel Reeves' first spending review on June 11. Without it, they argue, Labour's ambitious targets to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls in a decade will not be met. There are likely to be more challenges to come. An independent sentencing review by David Gauke, the former Conservative justice secretary, published last week by the Government, proposes that some prisoners should be released after serving just one third of their sentences and that custodial sentences of less than 12 months should be largely scrapped. As a result of Gauke's recommendations, which were accepted by ministers almost wholesale, even more policing power will be needed to tackle offenders who would previously have been in prison – and, many argue, should still be behind bars. Rowley said he does not take the decision to wade into politics 'lightly'. But a stretched police force is in no fit state to take on a new wave of early releases, given reoffending rates stand at around 30 per cent. 'Every time you put an offender in the community, a proportion of them will commit crime [and] will need chasing down by the police,' Rowley said. Meanwhile, the decision to release prisoners early, under the current scheme, was made 'without any analysis of the impact on policing whatsoever'. Worryingly, statistics show criminals with multiple offences are no more likely to be jailed than first-time offenders – a phenomenon dubbed 'more crime, less time'. According to research from the Policy Exchange think tank published in 2023, less than half of 'hyper-prolific' offenders (those who have 45 or more previous convictions) and less than a quarter of 'prolific' offenders (those with 16 previous convictions or more) are sent to prison when convicted of offences that are sufficiently serious to be tried in a Crown Court. Since 2007, roughly 50,000 career criminals with over 50 previous convictions have been spared jail, including 4,000 people who had over 100 previous convictions, according to MoJ data obtained via parliamentary questions. Astonishingly, when Conservative MP and shadow education minister Neil O'Brien crunched the numbers, he found that MoJ statistics show people convicted of theft, drug offences and common assault and battery were handed shorter sentences if they had a greater number of previous offences. 'A massive chunk of crime is caused by a small minority of criminals,' says O'Brien. 'A lot of these people will be the people who would be handed short sentences, which are now set to be banned. They will be out in the community, able to cause even more misery and commit even more crime… policy is going in literally the wrong direction.' Striking examples of hyper-prolific offenders avoiding jail include Tanya Liddle, who in October last year avoided prison for her 172nd conviction (most of which were theft-related), and Carey Lyons, who in 2023 was handed a suspended sentence after being convicted of 15 charges of possessing indecent images of children, despite having a staggering 100 previous convictions, many of them for sex offences. Craig Nicholson, from Gateshead, meanwhile, was given a community order rather than a custodial sentence for theft in 2023, despite 343 previous convictions. Similarly, Warren Russell, from the Isle of Wight, was in 2022 given an eight-week suspended sentence for theft, despite racking up 115 previous convictions, mainly for shoplifting. Is the solution simply more money for policing, as Rowley and his colleagues are appealing for? Many of the arguments made by the police chiefs on Tuesday have been made repeatedly over the last decade – albeit largely behind closed doors – to both Conservative ministers and their Labour successors. In the same radio interview, Rowley said policing is 'carrying the scar tissue of years of austerity cuts and the effects of that. Forces are much smaller when you compare the population they're policing than they were a decade or 15 years ago.' While the overall police budget has increased by 5 per cent (up to £889 million) for the next financial year, demand for police resources is rising by 5 per cent a year nationwide, according to Rowley: 'Five per cent more people are calling 999 looking for help from police. That's a massive number, and that compounds year on year.' O'Brien recognises the significance of this 'extraordinary' intervention from police chiefs, but disagrees that funding is the sole issue. 'What the police are doing and how their time is used is as relevant as total resources,' he says. 'It's not just non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), but how much time police spend attending mental health incidents, sitting in A&E, and being stuck in bureaucracy.' Meanwhile, an increasing number of potentially dangerous 'prolific' offenders will be released early – or else, avoid jail entirely. 'There is genuine and widespread concern about the impact of the sentencing review on community safety in an already overloaded system,' says Ian Acheson, a former prison governor and director of community safety at the Home Office. 'The police have had more money, this is true, but compared to population growth per capita they are seriously underfunded.' Sir Keir Starmer came to power last summer with ambitious aims for the criminal justice system: to 'take back our streets', halve serious violence, and tackle violence against women and girls. The blame can't be placed solely at the door of the current Government for the status quo. 'We have a system that is falling apart – feral, violent, and awash with drugs,' says Acheson. 'Labour have inherited this mess – for once, that's true.' It won't be fixed, however, until more crime means more time, not less. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Money alone will not fix our failing police
Police chiefs have told the Government that if they are to meet pledges to cut crime they need more money and more officers. Their appeal comes ahead of the Chancellor's spending review due to be published next month and with law and order expected to take a financial hit since it is not a 'protected' area. Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, praised Labour's 'sensible ambition' to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls, as well as boost neighbourhood policing. But this required cash, not least because the population had risen so much (though no one seemed prepared to join the dots with large scale immigration as the cause). The problem the police have when making such demands is that the public no longer feels they make the right choices with the resources they have. Burglaries are rarely, if ever, investigated; mobile phone thefts are ignored; shoplifters strip stores with impunity; and officers are only occasionally seen walking the beat, almost always in pairs. Police chiefs maintain that they direct scarce resources where they are most needed and yet this is impossible to square with stories of half a dozen officers being sent to arrest someone for sending an injudicious tweet to a school website. Stories like these make it hard to take seriously the argument that police numbers are too low. Policing is as much about choices as money. More bobbies on the beat has been a recurring policy ambition for decades yet never seems to happen. Labour has promised to recruit 2,500 police neighbourhood officers and nearly 400 PCSOs over the next 12 months, as part of the target to hit 13,000 by 2029. The police say this is not enough. But it might be if they deploy their officers more effectively and make different decisions about what is important to the public. The Government must play its part by finally stripping away much of the red tape that often keeps officers stuck in police stations inputting data and removing self-defeating targets. The release of career criminals back into the community because there are too few prison places also needs to stop, even if it means temporary overcrowding while new jails are built. Police chiefs say they also want structural reform which invariably means fewer but bigger forces. If they go down that road they will become even more remote from the public they serve than they are already. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
