‘Green light to steal’ as police chief says it is not practical to go after shoplifters
A SENIOR police chief sparked anger yesterday by declaring it was “not practical” for officers to investigate crimes such as shoplifting and criminal damage.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons said the force had to work with fewer officers and less money.
“We need our officers focused on serious crime and cases where there is a realistic chance that we will be able to solve it,” he said.
In the past four years, the London police force has had to make £600million of savings and is due to lose an extra £400million by 2020.
The Met has introduced a Crime Assessment Policy to help prioritise resources.
Under this policy 150,000 fewer offences will be investigated every year, according to reports.
Victims
Mr Simmons said: “Clearly this is not about letting criminals get away with crime, or not investigating the cases we’re solving at the moment.
“With the pressure on our resources it is not practical for our officers to spend a considerable amount of time looking into something where, for example, the value of damage or the item stolen is under £50, or the victim is not willing to support a prosecution.”
Serious offences will continue to be investigated.
He added: “Of course we are not talking about things like homicide, kidnap, sexual offences, hate crime or domestic violence but the lower level, higher volume offences such as shoplifting, car crime and criminal damage. This is not to say these cases will not be investigated further. However, by applying the assessment policy we will be able to determine very quickly if it is proportionate to do so.”
The number of recorded offences has increased with violent crime rising by 63 per cent since May 2013 and gun crime increasing by 54 per cent in the past two years.
The plan was denounced as “giving junkies a green light to thieve” by critics.
Former Met Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville said: “This is justice dreamed up by bean counters in shiny suit land. No consideration is being given to victims.
“The new principles will focus police attention on easy crimes where there is a known suspect.
“Few professional criminals target people who know them, so the worst villains will evade justice. Not investigating high volume crimes like shoplifting with a loss of under £50 will give junkies a green light to thieve.”
Chris Hobbs, an ex-Special Branch officer, agreed: “It gives the green light to criminals to do as they please, especially if they’re hooded.”
Conservative former minister Ann Widdecombe acknowledged the pressures on policing but said: “You don’t announce you won’t cover certain types of crime. It’s a positive encouragement to criminals.”
The Met Police Federation said it was important officers investigated offences at every level “like we always used to”. Chairman Ken Marsh said cuts and the threat of terrorism meant other areas of policing were suffering.
“You learn a lot from small crimes and if you stop investigating that you break off a large part of communication with the public,” he said.
Gobsmacked
“The public are getting a raw deal. Officers will be under immense pressure if a criminal who should have been caught goes on to commit a serious crime.”
Michael Fraser, a former burglar who is now a home security expert, said: “I’m gobsmacked. This is saying to the criminal, instead of having a 50/50 chance, you’ve got an 80 per cent chance of getting away with it.”
METROPOLITAN Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons has announced that in a cost-cutting measure the police will no longer investigate “small” crimes such as shoplifting or criminal damage. “We need our officers to be focused on serious crime,” he announced.
Well one person’s “small crime” can be a very big crime when it affects you directly. It may not be as dramatic as anything in TV’s Line Of Duty when your purse is nicked, or your car is stolen and trashed. But the impact of “small” crime can be very great indeed in terms of upset and distress.
This is the most astonishing and blatant dereliction of duty by the Met. Though in truth many who are the victims of “small” crimes have long found they have received very little support when they have reported one. But now, far worse, it appears to be official policy.
Of course when it comes to a “perceived hate crime” – something as fatuous as a child taunting another in a playground – then the police will mount an in-depth investigation before you can say “Evening all”.
What message does this policy send to the criminal fraternity? Most villains are not very bright but even they will quickly grasp that unless they are very unlucky then they will get away with almost anything.
The police have a massive job to do but to play down the impact of petty crime on members of the public when they seem to spend so much time policing political correctness is appalling.