Home Secretary: ‘Police must prioritise crime fighting over wokery’

The police must focus on tackling crime instead of ‘diversity’ initiatives, the Home Secretary has said.

In a letter to senior policing figures across England and Wales, Suella Braverman KC MP emphasised that the public have “a right to expect that the police get the basics right”.

Earlier this year, it was found that 30 police forces had spent thousands of pounds on Stonewall’s pro-LGBT training schemes.

‘Common-sense policing’

Braverman wrote: “Unfortunately, there is a perception that the police have had to spend too much time on symbolic gestures, than actually fighting criminals. This must change. Initiatives on diversity and inclusion should not take precedence over common-sense policing.”

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Chief Executive of the College of Policing Andy Marsh added that such priorities damage the public’s trust in the police and hinders its ability to work effectively.

He said: “The fundamental purpose of the police is to keep our community safe, catch criminals and bring offenders to justice” and “where our conduct or behaviour becomes a distraction from that mission, it’s unhelpful”.

For example, Marsh highlighted that police officers’ “appearance, behaviour and standards of dress has to say everything about our role and function. Badges risk distracting from that”.

Twitter

Referring to the College’s interim guidance on ‘non-crime hate incidents’, he said: “The police should not be involving themselves in spats on Twitter.

“It is not where the public want the police to be. It is not their role. We cannot pick sides on contested social issues, we have a job to do: to police without fear or favour, to prevent and detect crime.”

The College’s interim guidance followed a Court of Appeal ruling last year, which stated that previous guidance on recording the incidents unlawfully interfered with free speech.

The interim guidance will remain in place until the Government approves a new code of practice, probably in early 2023.

Free speech

Former police officer Harry Miller had challenged the College’s previous guidance, which stated that when someone claims they have been a victim of hatred, officers must keep a record against the name of the accused person even where no crime was actually committed. No investigation of the claims is required.

A total of 119,934 non-crime incidents were recorded by 34 police forces in England and Wales between 2014, when the guidance was introduced, and 2019. The Court said that recording perceived offences in a police database was likely to have had a serious “chilling effect” on public debate.