, and if we have a criminal justice system resourced to make use of prison to deter, incapacitate, and reform, then we shall have safer streets. Despite real progress towards more police officers and more prison places since 2019, our streets, and the criminals who prowl them, remain under-policed. Too many predatory criminals continue to not just evade detection, but also dodge any crime-suppressing incarceration at His Majesty's pleasure. Tough questions must now be asked of our police chiefs — they have more resource, they must deploy them to good effect. Treasury wonks will be gleefully reporting that police officers cost money — and crime fighting cops cost even more, with their pesky desire to catch crooks and see them prosecuted and banged up. Far better to hire someone who can't or won't arrest anyone. Police chiefs need to crack down on those who, rather than fight crime, would prefer to shuffle paper, virtue signal, or choreograph dance moves for the next parade. The decades-long view of policing and t){kind=link}
If the Conservatives don’t show that they are serious about keeping our streets safe, then Labour will win in 2024
In the urgent quest for fiscal balance, Rishi Sunak’s new regime in Downing Street must avoid falling for the fairytale that cutting crime-fighting budgets is without very real and serious political and economic risks.
Prison building and recruiting police officers are hugely popular policies in the real world where voters live. Most people recognise that predatory criminals have it easier than the few crime-fighting cops that dare to lock up crooks and make the streets safer.
Having served on the frontlines of the fight against crime – confronting axe-wielding maniacs, knife-wielding thugs, and gun-toting gangsters – I know what many officials and too many of their political masters don’t: cutting crime and disorder is actually quite simple.
I’m not alone. The public know all too well that if we have enough police professionally doing what only the police can do (for the uninitiated: stopping, searching, investigating, arresting and charging criminals), and if we have a criminal justice system resourced to make use of prison to deter, incapacitate, and reform, then we shall have safer streets.