Latest news with #SirMarkRowley
The Independent
an hour ago
- Business
- The Independent
Police warn Starmer of ‘stark choices' on investigating crimes if faced with cuts under spending review
Sir Keir Starmer has reportedly been warned by UK police chiefs that forces could face 'stark choices' on which crimes to prioritise investigating amid fears over spending cuts. Head of the Metropolitan Police Sir Mark Rowley was among the senior police officers who issued the direct warning in a letter to the prime minister ahead of the unveiling of next Wednesday's spending review, according to reports. Sir Keir and chancellor Rachel Reeves are already facing a cabinet revolt over the government spending plans, with Yvette Cooper's Home Office believed to be among the ministers who have not settled on an agreement. In their letter, the police chiefs predicted 'far-reaching consequences' if the Treasury pushes ahead with slashing costs, including cuts to frontline policing last seen under austerity. They added that the Home Office and Treasury negotiations have been going 'poorly'. The Times reported Britain's most senior police chiefs wrote to Sir Keir: 'We understand that the Treasury [is] seeking to finalise departmental budget allocations this week and that the negotiations between the Home Office and the Treasury are going poorly. 'We are deeply concerned that the settlement for policing and the [NCA], without additional investment, risks a retrenchment to what we saw under austerity. This would have far-reaching consequences. 'Policing and the NCA have seen a sustained period where income has not kept pace with demand. Often, this has been masked by attempts to defer costs in the hope of more income in future, but that now leaves policing with very limited room for manoeuvre. 'A settlement that fails to address our inflation and pay pressures flat would entail stark choices about which crimes we no longer prioritise. The policing and NCA workforce would also shrink each year.' Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves are facing opposition in their party over fears departmental cuts in the spending review will lead to key manifesto spending promises being ditched. In what is being described as a 'proxy war', the chancellor is under pressure to consider taxes on the wealthy instead of cuts before she outlines the spending plans. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are also among the major departments that have reportedly still not settled on an agreement for the review.
The Sun
3 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Machete-wielding teen who sparked massive police hunt when he cut off electronic tag while on bail is spared jail
A TEENAGER who sparked a massive police hunt after absconding on bail and cutting off his electronic tag has been spared custody again. Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley last week raised his concerns over the 16-year-old boy's case. 2 He said massive resources had been used to track down the teenager — 'involved in machete attacks' — with a history of being arrested for firearms and zombie knives. Sir Mark told BBC Radio 4: 'We sought his remand in custody. Even under the current system he was eventually bailed. He skipped his bail on his tag and we've put massive resources into chasing him. 'He's been caught with another machete again.' But we can reveal the boy is now back on the streets after being captured in Eltham, South East London, on Tuesday. He was held on suspicion of attempted murder, possessing a machete and cannabis. He had also cut off his electronic tag. The lad, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Bromley youth court on Thursday over the machete and drugs. Prosecutors called for him to be remanded. But District Judge Vanessa Lloyd said: 'Custody for young people must be a last resort.' She technically refused bail, but remanded him to local authority accommodation with an 8pm to 7am curfew — and ordered he wear a tag. Cops are probing the attempted murder allegation. 2
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Electronic tags do NOT prevent criminals from re-offending, warns Met chief... as Labour lets thousands skip jail
Tagging criminals instead of sending them to prison will not stop re-offending, the head of the country's biggest police force has warned. Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, issued a stark warning yesterday about the Government's plans to let tens of thousands of offenders avoid jail. He said that fewer criminals serving prison time would 'generate a lot of work for police' and a 'proportion' of them would go on to commit another crime. Sir Mark also accused ministers of having done 'no analysis whatsoever' on the impact of letting criminals dodge jail sentences or be released early. Under Labour's overhaul of sentencing laws announced last week, some criminals – including violent and sexual offenders – will be released early for good behaviour. And courts will no longer impose jail terms of less than 12 months, apart from in 'exceptional circumstances', with more criminals serving sentences in the community instead. Alongside the changes, the Probation Service was given a funding boost to buy nearly 30,000 more electronic tags – enabling it to quadruple the number of criminals being monitored with the devices. But the Met Commissioner told BBC Radio 4's Today programme tagging criminals cannot be relied upon: 'Every time you put an offender into the community, a proportion of them will commit crime, a proportion of them will need chasing down by the police.' He went on: 'If probation are going to spend more money on trying to reform offenders, divert them, reduce their recidivism, that's fantastic. 'But a proportion of those who would've been in prison will be committing further offences because probation can't do a perfect job, it's impossible. 'That extra offending is work that police have to do to protect communities. That involves more arrests, more cases. So this will generate a lot of work for police.' Sir Mark's comments came after he and five other senior police officers – chief constables Serena Kennedy, Stephen Watson, Craig Guildford and John Robins, as well as chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC)Gavin Stephens – wrote a letter in The Times calling on the Government to provide 'serious investment' at this month's spending review. As well as increasing demand and new online threats from organised crime, they said the emergency release of prisoners to alleviate overcrowding and recommendations in the sentencing review would put more pressure on policing. The officers warned that Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's flagship pledges on knife crime, violence against women and recruiting thousands more police officers would be unachievable without spending more. Their warning comes ahead of the Chancellor's spending review on June 11, which chiefs said was 'the most important moment in decades' for the backing of police by the Government. Police chiefs have also called for a radical overhaul of the structure of UK policing with fewer, larger forces amid financial shortages and difficulties dealing with updating technology. The current structure of 43 geographical forces was established in the 1960s and there have long been concerns that the model is not fit for purpose. As the NPCC published the police data strategy for 2025 to 2030 today, force bosses called for a redesign of the structure of policing in England and Wales. Mr Stephens said 'the system is not resilient' and argued for 'bigger, capable forces led by a stronger national centre'.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
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.
The Sun
6 days ago
- General
- The Sun
Britain's top cop slams Labour plans to slash jail time and says officers will be overwhelmed
BRITAIN'S top cop has criticised Labour plans to slash jail time — saying police will struggle to cope with the surge in crime. Met Police boss Sir Mark Rowley warned putting more criminals back on the street risked overwhelming officers. 2 He accused the Government of doing 'no analysis whatsoever' on the impact of freeing thousands and risking the prospect of 'generating a lot of work for police'. He told the BBC: 'Every time you put an offender into the community, a proportion of them will commit crime, a proportion of them will need chasing down by the police.' But the Ministry of Justice hit back in the war of words, saying its top priority was to 'keep people safe'. Standing by its changes, it said: 'That is why we are building prisons faster than at any time since the Victorian era and, through our sentencing reforms, we will make sure the public are never again put at risk of running out of prison places.' Sources also insisted a full impact assessment on early release is under way. The Sun revealed last week Sir Mark was among senior officers who wrote to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood questioning prison reforms. Her plans include scrapping most short sentences, releasing lags after a third of time served and monitoring with tags to free up cells. Sir Mark said: 'If probation are going to spend more money on trying to reform offenders, reduce their repeat offending, that's fantastic. But a proportion will be committing further offences because probation can't do a perfect job — it's impossible.' The Scotland Yard chief also said forces are still 'carrying the scar tissue of years of austerity cuts'. Prisons will run out of space in just 5 MONTHS as government unveils raft of new measures to tackle overcrowding crisis 2
