Police chiefs hit back at Suella Braverman following order to crackdown on crime
The Home Secretary said that police must investigate every theft
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Police chiefs have said that Suella Braverman is interfering with their operational independence after she demanded that forces crackdown on crime.
The Home Secretary announced yesterday that police must investigate every theft, saying it was “unacceptable” that crimes such as shoplifting, and muggings are treated as “less important”.
The police force committed to following “all reasonable lines of enquiry”, however, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) were sceptical about whether they could legitimately investigate every instance of theft.
The NPCC chief constable Gavin Stephens responded to Braverman and policing minister Chris Philp in an open letter, stating their intention to hound a case with any reasonable lead.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is met by Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Stephen Watson during a visit to Greater Manchester Police HQ in Manchester
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“For decades, police forces have had a duty to pursue all reasonable leads of an alleged crime.”
However, Stephens suggested her plan was not viable due to the pinch on police funding and said that “more needs to be done together”.
“To see trust in police return to where it used to be, an effectively staffed and properly funded police service is essential,” the letter said.
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
Braverman pointed to the Government’s restoration of 20,000 officers, which were cut between 2010 and 2018, meant the force had enough resources to successfully implement her plan.
The open letter was appreciative of the reinstatement of officers but thought more could be done.
“There is much more that can and should be done. Although the additional officers go some way to support these changes the reality is that since 2010, the number of officers has increased by just 2.6 per cent, while recorded crime has increased by 25 per cent.”
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Stephens said the police needed better funding and staffing in order to improve
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The Government has claimed that crime has fallen in the last decade, with Rishi Sunak stating that the level had decreased by 50 per cent in May.
Yet the NPCC said that crime was in fact rising.
It said: “In 2022/23, a total of 5.24 million crimes were recorded by police – an increase of over 1 million since 2010/11, when recorded crime sat at 4.15 million. This means there is more recorded crime per police officer.”
The Home Secretary said that she had “heard too many accounts from victims where police simply haven't acted on helpful leads because crimes such as phone and car thefts are seen as less important”.
Labour labelled the announcement as an admission of Conservative failure to properly monitor crime.
“Pursuing reasonable leads like CCTV is what the police should be doing, but - because of abysmal Tory management - over 90 per cent of crimes go unsolved, the proportion of crimes prosecuted has dropped by more than two-thirds and more criminals are getting off,” a Labour spokesperson said.