Despite recruiting more officers and Conservative manifesto promises of being tough on offenders, recorded crime keeps going up
Three years ago, the Conservatives were elected after promising to bear down on crime. “The increase in serious violence is deeply worrying and sadly some people no longer feel as safe as they should,” noted the 2019 manifesto. “It is the Prime Minister’s priority to make our streets safer.” Despite recruiting thousands of extra officers since then, the reverse has happened.
Police-recorded crime in England and Wales is now at a record high, and the proportion of crimes solved has fallen to a record low. Just one in 20 offences now results in the perpetrator being charged, down from around just under one in six less than a decade ago. Impunity reigns. It is a trend of lawlessness and injustice that cannot be allowed to continue.
Soaring crime figures are not the only scandal to have sullied British policing in recent times. Dreadful examples of racism, misogyny, corruption and, worst of all, the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, have combined to undermine public trust. Emblematic of this rot is the nation’s biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, which has been put in special measures and a new commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has now taken charge.
The best way of restoring public confidence, however, would be for police to do what the public wants and prioritise basic law and order. There is little point recruiting additional officers if they are to spend their time on politically correct campaigns rather than locking up violent offenders. This month Leicestershire Police had to apologise after tweeting a made-up case of “transphobia”. Meanwhile, back in the real world, Just Stop Oil activists have been free to disrupt motorists and vandalise priceless artworks. Home Secretary Suella Braverman has rightly insisted that police need to fight actual crimes.