Law & Order

• No more kneeling, politicised police officers
• More, visible officers to target violent crime, robbery and burglary
• More, visible officers to target, drug dealers, gangs and knife crime

Law & Order

Policing

Our law enforcement began its decline the day we ceased to have a Police Force & renamed it as a Police Service. In the UK we police by consent… otherwise known as having a smaller police capability than we actually need.

We are constantly being told that we have never been safer, while the news is increasingly full of horror stories of muggings, rape, stabbings, groom gangs and murders. Social media might have a role to play in disseminating news faster and to a greater audience.

Maybe we are safer today than we have been, but it doesn’t feel like we are safer. It doesn’t seem to be the case & it is how we feel about things that ultimately matters to us.

We need the public to have faith in our police officers, and that they will police equally, without fear or favour.

It certainly feels like everything is being policed except for crime.

In recent years we have seen the politization of our police. We have seen two tier policing. We have seen different groups being given very different treatment. Our police officers knelt in front of Black Lives Matter protestors while they destroyed statues and caused damage, while donning full riot gear for the marches by ex-servicemen who only wanted to defend our statues from further harm.

We seem to have adequate police officers to visit you if someone takes offence to a few hurty words you may post online, but not enough to attend a burglary. Online hate is obviously a rising issue, but should it take preference over more serious offences?

We need visible policing, not just around Westminster, but across the country, in towns and villages. We need to police more than just motorists. We need to have police that attend every burglary, every theft, not just a helpline that hands out crime numbers so you can claim on your insurance.

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Prisons

The current system of parole in our prisons is designed to release criminals early to free up valuable space required for new prisoners.

As a standard, a prisoner only serves 50% of whatever sentence they are given. This gives the impression of being tough on crime while letting criminals back out into society before they have served their full sentence.

I would support a reform of the parole system so that prisoners were rewarded with a reduction in their sentence for gaining a qualification. Then, on release they would have the skills and qualifications they need to get a job and to contribute to society.

I would call it Second Chance.

If they then reoffended, they would receive double the sentence for their second offence. This would help many people who turned to crime due to a lack of education, skills and opportunities, and also act as an incentive to not reoffend in the future.

Initially we would need to add to prison capacity, but within 10 – 15 years we would see prison numbers lower that current levels.

Knife Crime

Carrying a knife should carry a minimum 5 yr sentence.

Using a knife to injure should carry a minimum 10 year sentence.

Killing with a knife should carry a full life sentence.

Assault of first responders / emergency services personnel should carry 5 year mandatory, minimum sentence. It is critical that we protect our first responders doing their job.