PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

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PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Marty »

What do you think of the Home Secretary's bold new proposals to use community policing and preventive policies to tackle crime more effectively? Is this really tough on crime? Will it work, and what do you propose?
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Sir Jack Anderson »

While the Conservative government merely talked tough talk on crime, they let violent thugs fill our street and create unprecedented chaos. Their failure to be tough on crime in the short term was a problem, but they also failed to get to the root causes of crime to ensure every child had opportunities, no child had an excuse to turn to crime to get by and that we were addressing social crises that feed into crime, such as alcohol consumption, drug use or deprivation.

This government is taking the bold action to ensure we're tough on crime and tough on its causes in a way that tackles it in the long and short term. And we're making sure to amplify the voices of those best equipped to tackle it in the process - that started with our Victims Rights bill, but our new community policing bill will ensure communities are at the forefront on the fight against crime too. I've been heartened by the bold action taken by the Home Secretary in recent days, and I know he will continue his excellent work in implementing the bold and necessary reforms Britain needs.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Charles Trenython »

I'm proud to stand with the Home Secretary in increasing the accountability within the Police forces across the country by expanding the powers of local police authorities. These independent bodies regulate the activities of law enforcement.

We are giving the public a direct insight into local law enforcement's operation by creating a repository of the plans, reports and meeting minutes, and performing the meetings in view of the public. After all, we should have nothing to hide in these meetings, so why should they be conducted behind closed doors?

We want it to feel that local people are part of the collective effort to keep us all safe from crime. This sentiment extends to minorities who feel they have been unfairly treated, and we can start to rebuild trust following our promise to tackle institutional racism.

--

The Police Reform Act introduced by Andy Edwards, the Home Secretary, is yet another clear commitment by this Government that we intend to be tough on crime, and listen to local communities about how best to keep them safe. Earlier this year, we showed our commitment to support the victims of crime with legislation that is now law. I spoke recently at an international conference how a healthy country needs to have a fair judicial system that supports the victims of crime and a judicial system that is transparent, not opaque or translucent.

This Government is leading the way internationally creating legal frameworks and committing £40mn to help the victims of crime, creating accountable and more transparent local policing and not just being tough on crime but tough on the causes & motivations of crime.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Rebecca Flair »

While I welcome the Government's commitment to tackling crime I can't help but worry that they are not spending enough to deal with it. The Labour Party's budget was the least ambitious when it came to justice and policing priorities, even the Conservatives found over a quarter of a billion more funding for "getting tough on crime". As great as all of these initiatives are from the Government they will only ever go part of the way if they are not backed up by cold hard cash. The Liberal Democrats believe in reform of our justice system, we believe in more visible and community-focused policing which is why we have proposed hiring 20,000 over the course of a Parliament, but we also believe in cutting reoffending rates which is why we doubled spending on rehabilitation. Putting your money where your mouth is can be difficult, it requires dipping in to that holy surplus that Labour love to bow down before, but only through the proper investment of funds alongside these reforms can we see actual positive change achieved to its fullest potential.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Sir Jack Anderson »

If you listened to the Liberal Democrats, you'd think the Home Office was dealing with austerity, cuts or damaging spending freezes. That simply does not square with the facts. The government is, of course, putting its money where its mouth is. We've boosted the Home Office budget by over 4% in real terms - a not insignificant investment, we've increased the rehabilitation budget by 40% in one year alone, and are on target to meet our manifesto commitment - the one the British people voted for - to hire 6,000 new police officers over the coming Parliament.

That will never be enough for the Liberal Democrats, whose only strategy for tackling crime is to demand more money and to select the biggest number, which is not credible at all. Labour will invest responsibly in the Home Office, policing and prison budgets, ensuring we're in a fiscally sustainable position to continue investing. But we'll also ensure crucial reforms are made so we actually get to tackling the root causes of crime instead of just spending money and hoping crime would disappear.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Rebecca Flair »

Sir Jack Anderson seems to believe that "something" is enough, but the British people deserve better than the bare minimum. Labour's plan to keep a surplus of just under £15bn goes beyond the need to be fiscally prudent and is in and of itself wasteful, it is a waste of a year of opportunity to invest in our public services and bring them up to an even higher standard. Sir Jack may think that £100mn spent to hire 2,500 extra police officers is a waste of money, to me that's another community with a police officer, that's another bobby on the beat, and that's another weapon in the war on crime. Reforms are meaningless if they are not backed by investment and right now Sir Jack is not prepared to commit that investment, the Liberal Democrats are.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Sir Jack Anderson »

First of all, I think stating that £700 million is just 'something' shows how dangerous spend happy they are. Secondly, if Ms. Flair's only strategy is to hire more police officers it begs the question - why not just hire another 2,500? Another 5,000? Another 10,000? This race for the highest number frankly isn't credible: you need to make fair investments, and you need a real strategy too.

Her statement that a £15 billion surplus just goes into a void and is a 'waste' is also, forgive me for saying, utter nonsense. Rebecca is intelligent enough that I know she knows that isn't true. That £15 billion pays down Britain's debts - leaving Britain in a stronger position to continue investing into the Home Office in the long term, and it will of course give the government the flexibility to respond to economic shocks. Every £100 million Rebecca pledges this year is another year where she would have less to invest in our police forces through higher interest payments and less fiscal flexibility to safeguard our forces when faced with future economic shocks.

But Rebecca Flair simply isn't interested in safeguarding the economy in the long term, but is interested in headline figures in the short term. It's not credible, but most of all it is disappointing.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Rebecca Flair »

£700mn is a good start for our police and justice, but that's just it, it's a start. For years police were cut because the Tories wanted to scrimp and save, now Labour are not investing more heavily because they too want to scrimp and save. With a surplus built on Tory spending plans the people want, and the people need, real investment now to build an even stronger police force to keep our streets safe. When Labour's budget hires 1,500 police officers but provides no additional money to equip them, or maintain them, you know that the police are being given a shoestring budget. Compare that to the Liberal Democrats, we invest in 4,000 new police officers and then we also invest £100mn in equipment, procurement, and maintenance for them because having men and women with a badge means nothing if we don't invest in the men and women themselves. This is just one example of the Government trying to build a better police force on the cheap, this is why I have not got much confidence that the Labour Party will be able to maximise the potential gains out of these reforms with a shoestring budget of investment.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Andy Edwards »

Being tough on crime- and ultimately reducing it- doesn't depend on which party can hire a million billion officers and equip them with a million billon guns. I'm glad that's the narrow view of the parties vying to be in opposition, but the only way to meaningfully reduce crime is to make policing better, not bigger.

This Government committed to hiring more officers, and we are. But this Government also committed to reducing crime, and that's what we're doing with new legislation and new proposals focused on addressing crime in our communities. A budget proposed by the Lib Dems or the Tories won't eliminate crime. Getting our communities engaged and finding solutions will eliminate crime, and that's what I'm focused on. We need to address the inequality, the lack of access to education, the mental health issues, and tensions in our communities. We shouldn't depend on officers to do that or demand that they do... that's the sort of work that takes an entire community. Our measures to ensure community representation on police authorities will make the community responsible for crime, and it will make the public see just how much work needs to be done... and how much work you can't rely on just officers to do, even if you have a million billion of them.
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Re: PC15: Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime?

Post by Astrid Goldman »

This is an important step in the Government's coherent, joined-up strategy on policing, community development, education and social care. In allowing local public services and communities to operate in coordination through the expanded police authorities, we are making a substantial improvement to communication between services and authorities.

Policing plans that focus on communities will give the police the tools they need to tackle crime more effectively in the longer-term. Poverty, healthcare and rates of education, especially literacy rates, are a huge contributing factor in combating crime and improving social mobility and so including those professionals and expertise in decision-making processes and planning is vital. I absolutely encourage school leaders, teachers, governors and LEA members to get involved in this golden opportunity to effectively combat crime and the causes of it.
Astrid Goldman, Lady Goldman MP
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