Extra police may lead to record jail population

THE police recruitment drive will result in 20,000 more criminals being locked up in prisons by 2026, pushing the jail population to an all-time high, according to the Ministry of Justice.

An MOJ study projected the number of prisoners in England and Wales would rise from 78,800 to 98,700, largely because of the Government’s planned recruitment of an extra 20,000 police officers.

This would be the most people held in jails since 2012 when it stood at 86,600 and nearly double the rate of the mid-nineties when it hovered around 50,000.

The increase will also be fuelled by Boris Johnson’s tougher sentences which will make the most violent and serious criminals spend longer behind bars.

Britain already jails more people per head of population than any other country in western Europe, with 132 inmates per 100,000 – ahead even of China, Zimbabwe and Egypt.

The study was published less than 24 hours after Rishi Sunak, t he Chancellor, announced a £ 4 bil l i on prison building programme to create an extra 18,000 prison places over the next five years.

The MOJ researchers said the increase in prison numbers was “predominantly because of the recruitment of 20,000 additional police officers, which is likely to increase charge volumes and therefore increase the future prison population”.

They said the Prime Minister’s overhaul of sentencing would also have an impact by increasing the number of longer-term prisoners.

The Moj’s new sentencing whit e paper proposes changes that would force sexual and violent criminals to spend longer in prison, allow whole life orders for under-21s and child killers and s t op t he automatic release of inmates who may be dangerous.

The projections come as charging rates by police have plummeted in the past five years, from 15 per cent of crimes solved to just 7 per cent.

Police chiefs and unions have blamed the cuts of 22,000 officers since 2012 for the decline, an argument disputed by Theresa May when she was home secretary who denied rising crime rates were linked to reductions in police numbers.