Don’t let people off if they steal meals 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 crisis will trigger an increase in crime, branding it “old school” considering.

As inflation hit a 40-year high of 9%, Cooke said on Wednesday that officers should use their “discretion” when deciding whether to prosecute individuals who steal with a view to eat.

Showing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Malthouse, a longtime ally of Boris Johnson, stated Cooke’s pondering was “old school”, adding: “Because individuals are challenged financially … that doesn’t essentially mean they’re going to turn to crime.”

The chief inspector of constabulary is the head 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 in the role final month.

Malthouse has instructed officers not to let shoplifters off if they are stealing meals out of desperation during the price of dwelling disaster.

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

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

Earlier, the minister advised Times Radio: “The broad rule is that justice should be blind and I hope and imagine that's the principle that sits behind not simply the police but the operation of the courts as effectively.

“I've to challenge this connection between poverty and crime. What we’ve discovered in the past, and the place there is now rising evidence, is that truly crime is a contributor to poverty. That when you take away the violence and the crime from folks’s lives they generally prosper more than they in any other case would.”

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

When asked how policing may keep away from being seen because the arm of an uncaring state, he stated forces across England and Wales have been skilled in coping with the tensions and dynamics of their communities.

“What they’ve acquired to remember is what's the best thing for the community, and that particular person, in the best way they deal with these issues. And I actually fully help police officers using their discretion – and they need to use discretion extra often.”