Government must answer police concerns over early release

Cllr Jennifer Grocock says revelations about the local impact of the controversial prisoner release scheme should set alarm bells ringing in Whitehall

The entrance to Hendon Town Hall — Hendon Town Hall

On the evening of 7th October, MPs and councillors across north-west London received an extraordinary and deeply troubling warning from our Borough Commander about the consequences of the government’s Early Release Scheme.

It should alarm anyone who cares about the safety of our streets.

The Borough Commander highlighted the case of a prolific offender, assessed by the Probation Service as high risk, who was released from prison under the scheme. Within just one day, he was caught on CCTV stealing from two supermarkets and reportedly continued offending throughout the weekend.

Police officers then had to find him, arrest him, investigate the new offences and return him to custody. In total, the case consumed 27 officer hours at a cost of £1,887.

Think about what those officers could have been doing instead: patrolling our streets, investigating other crimes, protecting victims or pursuing dangerous offenders.

Instead, precious police time was spent dealing with the consequences of releasing a known prolific offender back into the community.

This is not simply about one offender. The Borough Commander says the Metropolitan Police has repeatedly raised concerns about the risks of putting more offenders into the community and the additional costs this places on policing. Similar cases are occurring across London, with fears that the situation will worsen as more offenders are released early.

That should set alarm bells ringing in Whitehall.

The government must now answer a very simple question: what consultation took place with the Metropolitan Police before these changes were introduced?

What warnings did senior police officers give? What assessment was made of the additional burden on frontline policing? And if the Met repeatedly raised these concerns, what did ministers actually do about them?

The government cannot solve a crisis in our prisons simply by transferring the consequences onto our streets.

Every hour an officer spends arresting someone who has just been released is an hour that officer cannot spend protecting somebody else. Every additional demand placed on policing comes at a cost, whether to taxpayers, victims waiting for justice or communities wanting to see more officers on their streets.

We strongly support our Borough Commander for speaking so plainly about what frontline policing is experiencing.

Our police officers work extraordinarily hard to keep Barnet safe. They should not be left to pick up the pieces of a policy that risks creating a revolving door between prison, offending and arrest.

Barnet’s MPs cannot simply look the other way. Those who hold positions within the government should reflect very seriously on this extraordinary intervention from our local police and ask whether it is acceptable for the consequences of the prison crisis to be pushed onto already stretched frontline officers and the communities they serve.

Barnet residents deserve answers. Our police deserve answers. Above all, victims of crime deserve better.

Jennifer Grocock is the Conservative shadow cabinet member for community safety on Barnet Council.

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