NEW Too many police officers lack an 'investigative mindset'.

It's one key reason why police are failing to solve high-volume crimes - shoplifting, car theft, burglary.

Report from @HMICFRS also flags:
- high workloads, inexperience, poor training...

THREAD here: 1. Mindset:
'Many forces introduced operating models that didn’t require response officers to investigate crimes...this has resulted in a generation of officers, and their supervisors, who have had limited experience of investigating or supervising crime.'

@HMICFRS

NEW THREAD
Why are we short of prison places & what should we do?

May 2010, Eng/Wales prison population: 85,500

This week: 87,500

So, no huge rise, no sudden burst - up 2,000 in 14 years - but Conservative Govt failed to provide enough places even for that modest rise… Between 2010 & 2022, Tory Govt closed 10,700 prison places & created 11,000 - net increase of just 300.

As I explained in previous thread, Govt launched a prison building scheme in 2016 - but under-delivered..

Of 20,000 promised places by mid-2020s, it provided just 6,000…

THREAD

Where to start with @SuellaBraverman ?

Her comments stem from her obsession with “woke policing”…

That’s why she accuses police of “double standards”- favouring left-wing causes..

.. a claim without evidence that ignores the operational nuances of policing protest Telling senior officers what their approach should be this weekend is arrogant (thinking she knows better than they do)…

…and, again, perilously close to crossing the line between setting overall policing priorities - her role - and deciding on tactics - the police’s role…

NEW: 13 reasons why @MoJGovUK ran out of room in prisons:

* It closed 10,700 places - but opened only 11,000, since 2010

* It introduced tougher sentencing - ignoring impact on prisoner numbers

* It was slow to get prisons built - 20,000 places promised, only 5,200 delivered * Pre-2020, @MoJGovUK limited court sitting days to save money, creating a backlog of cases which grew during Covid - it means record numbers are in prison on remand (14,600) and..

* Courts working flat out to clear backlogs - which means more offenders are being sentenced…

NEW Another increase in the asylum backlog.

New @ukhomeoffice figures to the end of June 2023 show there were 134,046 cases without an initial decision…

… while the number of applicants waiting at least 6 months rose to 106,543 - more than double the number 18 months ago. Asylum case backlog relates to 175,457 people.

Cases divide into 2 categories:

‘Legacy’ (applied before June 28 2022) and ‘Flow’ (since then).

Legacy backlog is down 14% in 3 months to 67,870.

@RishiSunak pledged to get it to zero by end of this year.

Flow up 21% to 66,176

Jaw-dropping stat from @MaxHillKC

A “busy” prosecutor in a Crown Court @CPSUK team is managing 100 to 110 cases.

“That’s an awful lot,” Hill tells @CommonsJustice. “That’s too high”.

He says the average - which was at one stage 130-140 - should be “below 100”. Gloomy picture painted by @MaxHillKC .

74,300 people caught in a backlog of more than 60,000 Crown Court cases.

@MoJGovUK aim to get that down to 53,000 within 18 months is “achievable”, says Hill, but requires a number of “levers” to be pulled.

@CommonsJustice
@CPSUK

NEW Extraordinary speech from ex Tory PM Sir John Major. He calls for wholesale change to sentencing & prisons - fewer short sentences, more focus on rehabilitation. He urges new justice Secretary @AlexChalkChelt to scrap proposals to give ministers powers over @Parole_Board Giving @PRTuk lecture in Courtroom Number 1 at the Old Bailey Sir John says @Parole_Board is “not a bunch of gullible softies” - a veiled rebuke to @DominicRaab. He also calls for all indeterminate sentence prisoners to be re-sentenced

Coronation policing by @metpoliceuk is not black & white.

The force will be delighted the event passed off peacefully - that was their priority - & deserve credit for that BUT….

The way they dealt with protesters appears excessive. I expect many of those arrested will face no… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Clearly @metpoliceuk face criticism for that & will probably have to apologise to some of those wrongly detained…

.. but I think they will be less concerned by that than they would have been if the procession had been disrupted.

*The force chose where it drew the line*

Is the police uplift for real?

@ukhomeoffice straining every sinew to meet Boris Johnson’s pledge to recruit an extra 20,000 officers in England/Wales by March 31st 2023.

On Wednesday, we’ll find out if they’ve hit the target.

I expect they have.

But don’t be fooled… The police ‘uplift’ is a misnomer.

It’s the police *replacement* for officers who quit after @ukhomeoffice cut force budgets from 2010.

In March 2010 there were 143,734 officers (full time equivalent, FTE).

By Sept 2017, the number had dropped by 21,805 to 121,929.

Legacy of @DominicRaab

1 Record court backlogs made worse by a barristers’ strike he was partly responsible for through his obstinate refusal to engage. How ironic that it was settled in the short period when @BrandonLewis was in the job 2 Prisons so full that police cells are being used, judges have been instructed to take capacity pressures into account when sentencing, some inmates are being fast-tracked to open prisons (where there is more space) & early release on tag is being extended.

This morning the High Court will rule on whether ⁦@ukhomeoffice⁩ asylum deal with Rwanda is lawful. There were two separate challenges brought by asylum seekers, campaigners, support groups & unions. It’s a significant day - but whoever loses will appeal. Court Number 1 at Royal Courts of Justice packed for the ruling. Around 20+ barristers & solicitors, 30 to 40 press & public, clients waiting outside. It’s thought a summary of the judgment will be read out. No one has seen a copy beforehand, it seems, which is unusual.

NEW - BREAKING:

@metpoliceuk has accepted defeat in long-running legal battle to sack Supt Robyn Williams.

She was convicted of possession of an indecent image & placed on sex offenders register.

A tribunal, headed by Met Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball, had dismissed her …but Ball’s decision was overturned by Police Appeals Tribunal & Supt Williams was reinstated.

@metpoliceuk appealed to High Court - & lost.

Met asked High Court for permission to appeal - it was refused.

Met took case to Court of Appeal - last week permission also refused.

NEW Record immigration to the UK revealed in figures from @ONS .

Figures are for the 12 months to the end of June 2022.

“Overall, net migration continued to add to the population.. with an estimated 504,000 more people arriving long-term to the UK than departing”. Long-term immigration to UK estimated at 1.1 million, says @ONS - up 435,000 compared with previous year.

“This was primarily driven by the immigration of non-EU nationals, accounting for an estimated 66% of total immigration (704,000)”

Interesting @CommonsJustice session with @DominicRaab on court backlogs, IPP sentences, parole changes, Bill of Rights, victims law & prisons…

…but there was an Elephant in the Committee Room

Not one question to Raab about his conduct, working style & the culture at @MoJGovUK Key points from @DominicRaab’s evidence to @CommonsJustice :

* @MoJGovUK must find savings by 2025 due to inflationary pressures

* no guarantee crown court backlog will drop from 62,500 to 53,000 by 2025 but we’ll “strive every sinew” (I think he meant “strain”)….

Slightly patronising tone to @SuellaBraverman’s letter to police leaders - like a headteacher writing to pupils on the first day of term…

Very little new in terms of substance...

Eg, no rationale/timescale given for crude 20% target to cut murders & other crimes..

1/5 If there is, as @SuellaBraverman claims, a “perception that the police have had to spend too much time on symbolic gestures” then talking about it only fuels it…

I have spoken to 100s of police over the years & they have never mentioned that as a problem they face…

2/5

PRISONS - NEW Prison officers are quitting in record numbers…

Leaving rate for band 3-5 officers: 15.3% in year to June..

Number of prison officers dropped by over 300 - despite big rise in number of prisoners…

Prison support staff also leaving at record levels - 18.9%…. Figures from @MoJGovUK show:

End June 2022:

21,725 band 3-5 prison officers
DOWN 318 in a year (276 in 3 months)

Prison population: 80,726
UP 2,364

A word about police targets to cut crime.

Targets can be effective if they’re specific & based on proper analysis, challenging but achievable. They can galvanise action & focus minds.

BUT they are not effective if a figure is plucked from the air & applied across the board… A 20% target to cut all manner of crimes in every police force, as Liz Truss suggests, sounds as though it has not been thought through.

For instance: a 20% cut to homicides in London would mean reducing the figure to less than 100. That has happened only once in past 50 years..

NEW @metpoliceuk has failed in its legal bid to sack two officers - Supt Robyn Williams and PC Asweina Gutty …

Both have criminal convictions & were sacked by the force, only to be reinstated by independent appeals tribunal.

The Met took the case to the High Court - but lost I have followed Robyn Williams’ case closely and wrote about the recent High Court hearing.

I thought Met was unwise to take their cases to the High Court. So it has proved. Another poor decision by @metpoliceuk .

dannyshaw.net/post/a-questio…

No solutions to the UK’s asylum problems?

Well, here are five, in the thread, below.

In short: make the system more efficient to cut costs & delays - and try two ideas to reduce Channel boat crossings. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-611370… 1 Reduce growing backlog of asylum claims by recruiting more caseworkers & improving decision-making training. This will reduce delays & save money. Applicants granted leave will be able to work & will not have to depend on state handouts.

NEW Why @ukhomeoffice Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft refused to sign off @pritipatel’s Rwanda plan:

“Value for money of the policy is dependent on it being effective as a deterrent. Evidence of a deterrent effect is highly uncertain….

1/6 “…. and cannot be quantified with sufficient certainty to provide me with the necessary level of assurance over value for money…(Rycroft)

2/6

NEW Boris Johnson says Royal Navy is taking over operational command from Border Force in the Channel with the “aim that no boat makes it to the UK undetected”. Johnson confirms people who arrive in UK “illegally” (from Jan this year) “may be relocated” to Rwanda. He says there is “no other option” to this “innovative idea” which could see thousands resettled in the country.