Don’t let individuals off in the event that 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 cost of residing disaster will trigger an increase in crime, branding it “old school” thinking.

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

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Malthouse, a longtime ally of Boris Johnson, said Cooke’s considering was “old style”, including: “As a result of individuals 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 role final month.

Malthouse has instructed officers to not let shoplifters off if they are stealing food out of desperation throughout the cost of living crisis.

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

“In truth I wrote to chief constables only a yr or so in the past saying they should not be ignoring these seemingly small crimes,” he said.

Earlier, the minister told Occasions Radio: “The broad rule is that justice must be blind and I hope and imagine that's the precept that sits behind not simply the police however the operation of the courts as effectively.

“I've to problem this connection between poverty and crime. What we’ve discovered previously, and the place there is now rising evidence, is that really crime is a contributor to poverty. That in the event you remove the violence and the crime from individuals’s lives they typically prosper more than they in any other case would.”

Cooke had earlier said: “The impact of poverty, and the impact of lack of opportunity for individuals, does lead to an increase in crime. There’s no two ways about that.”

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

“What they’ve got to keep in mind is what is the best thing for the group, and that individual, in the way they cope with these points. And I actually fully assist police officers utilizing their discretion – and they should use discretion extra often.”