New crime plan includes increased stop and search powers

The government has said that the new Beating Crime Plan will level up the country by ensuring everyone has the security and confidence that comes from having a safe street and a safe home.

The measures, which are set to build on progress to date toughening sentences to keep the most dangerous offenders behind bars and the delivery of almost 9,000 of the 20,000 extra police officers promised by 2023, are hoping to ensure the public is better protected across all parts of the country, with each neighbourhood having contactable, named police officers, who know their area and are best placed to ensure that persistent crime and anti-social behaviour is tackled.

As part of the announcement, the government has also detailed plans whereby the public will be given more opportunity to scrutinise results, with league tables for 101 and 999 call answering times to be introduced for each force.

Seeking practical measures to deliver real results across communities, the measures will also see the Home Office permanently relaxing conditions on the use of section 60 stop and search powers to empower police to take more knives off the streets and the roll out of two further rounds of the Safer Streets Fund to increase the safety of public spaces through steps including targeted patrols, increased lighting and CCTV, and work with councils to design out crime.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “When I first stood on the steps of Downing Street as Prime Minister, I promised to back the police and make people safer, because we cannot level up the country when crime hits the poorest hardest and draws the most vulnerable into violence. That is why my government has remained unstinting in its efforts to protect the British public and this plan delivers a fresh commitment, as we emerge from the impacts of the pandemic, to have less crime, fewer victims and a safer society.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I am absolutely determined to cut crime and deliver a safer society for the public, and the Beating Crime Plan shows how the government is going to do just that. We’re putting 20,000 new police officers on the street, equipping them with new powers to catch criminals and take away knives, and shutting down drug gangs who exploit children and the vulnerable to make money. This plan sets out a clear path for a better future for the British public – one with less crime, fewer victims, and a safer society for all.”

The plans have been met with some criticism, with Liberty saying that the permanent relaxation of search powers would ‘compound discrimination in Britain and divide communities’ and Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds saying that named officers were not a substitute for the effects of cuts on community policing.