Police chiefs told to arrest fewer people to save space in overcrowded prisons
22 May 2024, 01:21
Police chiefs have been told to arrest fewer people due to a shortage of space for prisoners across England and Wales, internal documents show.
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Chief constables have reportedly been advised to suspend operations at events that may trigger a “large number of arrests” and to pause “non-priority arrests” in a bid to save space in prisons.
The recommendations were made in an internal document drawn up by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).
The memo to police chiefs, which was seen by The Times, read: “Consideration is to be given to pausing non-priority arrests and any planned operations where large numbers of arrests may take place to ease the pressure within the criminal justice system.
“Notwithstanding public protection remains a priority and a considered threat, harm and risk assessment is to be completed when considering any pause in police operations.”
The document did not specify the type of offences for which arrests should be paused, but sources told the outlet that a more accurate term would be “non-urgent” arrests.
They gave examples such a person named as a suspect in a crime that officers have not yet carried out investigative actions for, such as carrying out house-to-house forensics for a burglary.
Large-scale protest and public events that require a police presence will remain a priority, however, it added.
Read more: 'Up to 23,000 criminals each year to avoid jail' if Government loosens sentences as prisons fill up
Chiefs advised to suspend operations at events that may trigger a “large number of arrests” instead relates to planned operations that are not specifically intelligence-led and could be rearranged for a different date.
In a separate internal letter from the NPCC to chief constables, it warned that the government’s emergency package of measures “risks public safety” and may restrict officers’ ability to respond to urgent calls.
Chiefs were also urged to record daily incidents that highlight the risks to frontline policing so they could warn ministers against future 'stopgap' solutions.
The letter, written by Rob Nixon, chief constable of Leicestershire police and the NPCC head of criminal justice, and Nev Kemp, deputy chief constable of Surrey police and the NPCC custody lead, said: “We continue along with NPCC chair Gavin Stephens to make it clear in the strongest terms that the current situation is having an unsustainable operational impact on policing and the further deterioration in the situation, which HMPPS expect early next week, will further impact on operational policing and risks public safety.
“It is important for us to be able to show what those risks to public safety are.”
The internal letter also highlighted the risk of suspects suing police forces for unlawful detention due to the effects of Operation Early Dawn - the HMPPS assesses each morning which defendants are transferred from police cells to courts.
Suspects charged by the police must be brought before a court as soon as possible - but if a court does not have the capacity to hold an individual in court cells it falls on the police force, the document said.
It comes after LBC reported earlier this month that a scheme to release prisoners early is due to be extended for a second time - to 70 days - to help ease pressure on overcrowded jails.
A senior probation source revealed the news had been shared with staff in an internal email, meaning offenders coming to the end of their sentence could be moved out of cells more than two months early, from May 23.
The End of Custody Supervised License (ECSL) programme was announced in October to initially let some offenders out 18 days early, to clear out cells in a prison estate with fewer than 1400 spaces for new inmates.
But the move to extend the scheme, first to 35 days in March and now to 70 days from the end of May suggests little progress has been made.
The Prison Officers Association (POA) and the Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) have accused the Government of just using temporary stopgaps.
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the POA, said: “The POA always warned that the prison service is in crisis. Operation Safeguard and Operation Early Dawn and the early-release schemes are merely a sticking plaster over a gaping wound.
“But now it is impacting on victims of crime, taking police officers off the streets and the courts not functioning properly simply because we are running out of prison places.
“The POA have been warning about this situation for many years and government have buried their heads in the sand hoping that it would go away. It hasn’t and won’t go away. There needs to be urgent solutions with a royal commission to fix our prisons and the criminal justice system.”
Gavin Stephens, National Police Chiefs’ council chairman, said: “We are working closely with criminal justice system partners to manage demand in the system and ensure that the public are safe.
“Policing will always arrest anyone that they need to in order to keep the public safe, including policing protests and events and ensuring that people are arrested as expected.”
A government spokesman said: “Public safety will always be our first priority. That is why we have backed our police with the officers and resources they need to keep our streets safe and are introducing new laws to lock up the most dangerous offenders for longer while delivering the biggest prison expansion programme in 100 years.
“We continue to see pressure on our jails following the impact of the pandemic and barristers’ strike and have initiated a previously used operational measure to securely transfer prisoners between courts and custody.”
