'People worried sick by policing-cuts and early release schemes,' says Shropshire MP

Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, spoke out in the wake of a letter signed by Craig Guildford, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, warning that government plans to punish more offenders in the community will inevitably result in more demands on already overstretched police forces.

Last year the Government released 16,231 prisoners under its 'early release scheme' to ease pressures on the prison service. And last week the Government published a review of sentencing policy, which suggested that in future offenders may be better punished in the community rather than issued with short jail sentences.

But Mr Guildford, along with five other police chiefs across the country, wrote an open letter warning that more resources would be needed to cope with the inevitable rise in officers' workload resulting from more criminals being released into the community.

Mrs Martin said the Government needed to demonstrate leadership in next year's spending review.

“Across the country, people will be worried sick by what we’ve heard over the last 24 hours, wondering how real-terms policing cuts and early release schemes will impact them and their families," she said.

“Years of mismanagement and neglect under the Conservatives ran our policing and criminal justice systems into the ground - but this is proof that the Labour government has failed to step up and tackle the scale of the problem in response.

“Our policing and criminal justice systems need to be working hand-in-hand, not in silos. It’s high time that the Government shows some real leadership by bringing together police chiefs and criminal justice chiefs ahead of the spending review to ensure that both systems have the resources they need to keep our communities safe."

Mr Guildford warned that police forces across the country were facing extra pressures with increasing public demand, growing social volatility, and new serious and organised crime threats emboldened by the internet.

"The emergency release of people from the prison system, and recommendations in the sentencing review last week to deal with more offenders in the community, will lead to more pressure on policing as we will inevitably be drawn into the control of criminals who would previously have been in prison," he said.

"To deliver this government’s policing ambitions and manage the increasing complexity and demand will require both substantial investments to bolster police officer numbers, grow specialist police staff nationally and enact major police reforms."