Don’t let individuals 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 dwelling disaster will trigger an increase in crime, branding it “old school” thinking.

As inflation hit a 40-year high of 9%, Cooke mentioned on Wednesday that officers ought to use their “discretion” when deciding whether or not to prosecute individuals who steal with the intention to eat.

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday, Malthouse, a longtime ally of Boris Johnson, stated Cooke’s thinking was “old-fashioned”, adding: “Because people 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 independent assessor of police forces in England and Wales. Cooke, a former chief constable of Merseyside police, took over from Sir Tom Winsor within the position final month.

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

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

“Actually I wrote to chief constables only a 12 months or so in the past saying they shouldn't be ignoring these seemingly small crimes,” he stated.

Earlier, the minister advised Occasions Radio: “The broad rule is that justice should be blind and I hope and imagine that's the precept 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 previously, and the place there's now growing evidence, is that actually crime is a contributor to poverty. That in case you take away the violence and the crime from individuals’s lives they often prosper more than they in any other case would.”

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

When asked how policing may avoid being seen because the arm of an uncaring state, he said forces throughout England and Wales were expert in coping with the tensions and dynamics of their communities.

“What they’ve obtained to keep in mind is what is the smartest thing for the group, and that particular person, in the way they take care of these issues. And I actually fully help cops using their discretion – and they should use discretion more typically.”