Don’t let people off in the event that they steal food in desperation, minister tells police | Police

The policing minister, Equipment Malthouse, has disputed the suggestion of the chief inspector of constabulary, Andy Cooke, that the cost of living disaster will set off a rise in crime, branding it “old style” thinking.

As inflation hit a 40-year high of 9%, Cooke said on Wednesday that officers should use their “discretion” when deciding whether or not to prosecute people who steal to be able to eat.

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Malthouse, a longtime ally of Boris Johnson, mentioned Cooke’s thinking was “old school”, adding: “As a result of people are challenged financially … that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to show to crime.”

The chief inspector of constabulary is the pinnacle of the unbiased assessor of police forces in England and Wales. Cooke, a former chief constable of Merseyside police, took over from Sir Tom Winsor within the role final month.

Malthouse has informed officers to not let shoplifters off if they are stealing food out of desperation during the cost of residing disaster.

He later advised LBC, ministers would ensure police do not turn a blind eye to shoplifters stealing food.

“In fact I wrote to chief constables just a year or so ago saying they shouldn't be ignoring these seemingly small crimes,” he mentioned.

Earlier, the minister told Times Radio: “The broad rule is that justice needs to be blind and I hope and believe that is the precept that sits behind not simply the police but the operation of the courts as well.

“I have to problem this connection between poverty and crime. What we’ve discovered in the past, and the place there's now rising proof, is that actually crime is a contributor to poverty. That when you remove the violence and the crime from individuals’s lives they generally prosper more than they otherwise would.”

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

When asked how policing could avoid being seen as the arm of an uncaring state, he mentioned forces throughout England and Wales have been expert in dealing with the tensions and dynamics of their communities.

“What they’ve received to remember is what is the neatest thing for the community, and that individual, in the way in which they take care of these points. And I definitely totally support cops using their discretion – and they should use discretion extra typically.”