Get back to basics, ‘woke’ police told

Focus on traditional policing, says Patel, as report calls for end to ‘partisan’ causes

POLICE are today told to focus on the basics by Priti Patel, as a report finds that the public feel officers are distracted from solving crime by “woke” causes.

The report from the Policy Exchange think tank calls for police to be barred from taking the knee or wearing campaign badges on their uniforms to avoid any risk of appearing to have partisan political views.

It says this can be “hugely damaging” to public confidence, citing polling that shows four in 10 voters think that the police are more concerned with being “woke” than solving crime.

The sentiment is understood to be backed by the Home Secretary.

A government source said: “Priti’s views are that police should be focusing on getting the basics of policing right, on traditional policing and making our streets safer.”

Tory leadership rivals Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have both made crime a cornerstone of their campaigns, with calls for a back-to-basics approach.

And the new commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, is due to take up his post in 12 days’ time and has promised to restore neighbourhood policing.

Six of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, including the Met, are in “special measures” because of their failure to investigate crimes properly.

Last week, police officers in Lincolnshire faced criticism after being shown on social media performing the macarena at a Pride event.

The Policy Exchange report, written by David Spencer, a former Met detective chief inspector, sets out a “back-tobasics” approach that includes the use of powers to sack the chief constables of failing forces and set clear guidance to prioritise solving crimes over “woke” political causes.

“Even the perception that an officer’s decision making, such as whether to arrest someone, might be influenced by a partisan political view has the potential to be hugely damaging to public confidence,” says Mr Spencer.

“Acts that may be intended as a show of solidarity against discrimination, such as ‘taking the knee’ or an officer wearing a badge on their uniform, can easily be interpreted by others as an expression of a partisan political view.

“To maintain the public’s confidence that police officers are acting with impartiality, such acts must always be avoided by police officers and their leaders. This should be made clear in both national and local guidance,” Mr Spencer writes.

His report states that the Home Secretary already has powers to set priorities for forces and should “have the courage” to use them, including, where appropriate, giving a direction to a police and crime commissioner to sack the chief constable of a failing force.

It also says that police should make greater use of technology to focus their work on the crimes and disorder that most concern people, suggesting more use of apps for the police and public to communicate with each other.

“Given a sense of community ownership is critical to the success of local policing, residents could then respond by prioritising which problems they would wish local officers to focus on,” says the think tank report.

“Once the crime and disorder issues that most concern local people are identified, policing teams could also use app-based platforms to demonstrate how they are focusing on resolving those issues.”

It also recommends that the Government should streamline the process for removing officers who are found guilty of criminality or serious misconduct and make it easier for chief constables to dismiss them.

Boris Johnson will today meet new police officers on the front line, saying the recruitment of 20,000 extra officers would enable the Government to con- tinue with its mission of “cracking down on vile gangs and putting dangerous offenders behind bars for longer”.