Police Chief Dismisses Claims of Officers Hesitating on Arrests

A police chief has rejected allegations that officers are reconsidering making arrests because of the current prison overcrowding. Labour councillor Sarah Russell stated at a police, fire and crime panel meeting on Monday that city officers had informed her they saw no purpose in arrests, believing offenders would soon be released. This situation arises as some inmates are being released early to create space for individuals newly sentenced by the courts, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). On Tuesday, Rob Nixon, Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police, affirmed that the force’s operations had “not changed.” The Labour government decided to implement the early release of prisoners—a policy initially developed by the previous administration—resulting in 1,700 releases in September and an additional 1,100 in October. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that statistics detailing how many of these released individuals were subsequently recalled to prison for violating their conditions would be made public later in the year. Russell, who serves as the city’s deputy mayor for social care, health, and community safety, addressed Rupert Matthews, Leicestershire’s police and crime commissioner, during the meeting. She stated: “I just wondered about… the communications and whether your office is involved at all around communication out to the wider force, and whether you could seek to hold the chief constable to account around this in that certainly a lot of the feedback I get from officers on the ground is not necessarily a full understanding of the release scheme and a bit of sense of… ‘well there isn’t any point in arresting because they will only go into prison for two days and be released anyway’.” She added: “I just worry about the messaging and what that means to our forces on the ground and their confidence to be able to carry out their roles appropriately.” Matthews indicated that he understood police duties to be “business as usual,” following discussions with Mr. Nixon. Mr. Nixon commented: “The work of Leicestershire Police has not changed since the prison early release scheme began. Protecting our communities across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland remains at the heart of everything we do.” He further added: “A vital part of our service is ensuring we deal with those who cause the most harm and so continuing to arrest people, where necessary, in order to carry out a full and detailed investigation remains very much part of our daily business.” A report, which detailed events in the Leicester and Rutland policing region concerning the early release scheme and was reviewed by the panel on Monday, concluded that there had been “no significant increases in crime volumes caused by the early release scheme.” The LDRS also reported that the police commissioner’s office intends to utilize available capacity to collaborate with the probation service, directing men under 25 to relevant services to help prevent their recall to prison.