Don’t let folks off if they steal meals in desperation, minister tells police | Police

The policing minister, Kit Malthouse, has disputed the suggestion of the chief inspector of constabulary, Andy Cooke, that the price of dwelling disaster will trigger an increase in crime, branding it “old school” thinking.

As inflation hit a 40-year high of 9%, Cooke mentioned on Wednesday that officers should use their “discretion” when deciding whether to prosecute people who steal with a view to eat.

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Malthouse, a longtime ally of Boris Johnson, mentioned Cooke’s thinking was “old-fashioned”, adding: “Because persons are challenged financially … that doesn’t necessarily imply they’re going to turn to crime.”

The chief inspector of constabulary is the head of the impartial assessor of police forces in England and Wales. Cooke, a former chief constable of Merseyside police, took over from Sir Tom Winsor in the position last month.

Malthouse has informed officers not to let shoplifters off if they are stealing food out of desperation during the price of living crisis.

He later informed LBC, ministers would guarantee police don't turn a blind eye to shoplifters stealing food.

“In actual fact I wrote to chief constables only a yr or so in the past saying they shouldn't be ignoring these seemingly small crimes,” he mentioned.

Earlier, the minister advised Times Radio: “The broad rule is that justice should be blind and I hope and believe that's the principle that sits behind not simply the police however the operation of the courts as properly.

“I have to problem this connection between poverty and crime. What we’ve discovered previously, and the place there may be now growing evidence, is that actually crime is a contributor to poverty. That if you happen to remove the violence and the crime from folks’s lives they often prosper greater than they otherwise would.”

Cooke had earlier mentioned: “The impact of poverty, and the impression of lack of alternative for folks, does result in a rise in crime. There’s no two ways about that.”

When asked how policing might keep away from being seen as the arm of an uncaring state, he stated forces throughout England and Wales had been expert in dealing with the tensions and dynamics of their communities.

“What they’ve bought to keep in mind is what is the smartest thing for the neighborhood, and that particular person, in the way in which they take care of these issues. And I actually absolutely help cops using their discretion – and they should use discretion more typically.”