Police chiefs have warned Suella Braverman of the need for “operational independence” when deciding on how to respond to crime.
The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) was responding to the home secretary’s announcement that police forces in England and Wales must investigate every theft as part of a crackdown on crime.
As part of a ‘crime week’ of major policy announcements, Braverman said it was “unacceptable” that crimes such as shoplifting, phone or car theft have been treated as “unimportant”.
While forces have committed to follow all “reasonable lines of enquiry” following offences such as burglary or theft, police chiefs warned pressures on policing were having an impact on the criminal justice system.
Growing demand
In an open letter to the home secretary and policing minister Chris Philp, NPCC chair Gavin Stephens said that growing demand and the nature of crimes varies across forces.
He said: “The complexity of crime has increased in recent years and new emerging technology has provided police with additional leads that have greatly assisted investigations by using video images from doorbells, CCTV and dashcam footage.
“We are also continuously learning, including from publicly available 999 performance data to improve the speed at which emergency calls are answered so we can deliver the fastest possible response.
He added: “However, growing demand as well as the increasing and changing nature of crime means consistency across forces varies and approximately 21 of 43 forces still have less officers than in 2010.
“It is therefore right that Police Chiefs have operational independence and are responsible for making difficult decisions around how best to respond to the breadth of priorities of local communities.”
Less officers than in 2010
Stephens added that while he welcomes the government’s pledge to recruit 20,000 additional police officers in England and Wales, since 2010 the number of police officers has only increased by 2.6% despite a 25% increase in the number of recorded crimes.
He said: “It demonstrates the government’s appreciation that more is needed to meet increasing and changing demands. But to support frontline policing, there is much more that can and should be done.”
The open letter follows allegations the home secretary misled viewers over the number of additional officers recruited since the Conservatives regained power in 2019.
Appearing on Sky News, Braverman claimed an additional 20,000 police officers had been recruited as part of the party’s manifesto commitment – a figure widely disputed by union leaders.
According to Home Office figures, the number of police officers in England and Wales has steadily declined since the Tories entered office, decreasing by 13.9% between 2010 and 2018.
Based on a headcount of all employees, the figures paint a disturbing picture of decline, with the party entering office with 148,725 police officers at the beginning of the decade, before losing more than 20,000 officers.
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