The Prime Minister has announced new measures to crack down on crime and keep our streets safe. From a £100 million crackdown on crime in prison, to 20,000 more police officers in the force, we are bringing about a Conservative crime policy to make Britain safer.
Crime is down by a third since 2010. That’s because we’ve worked with our police and intelligence agencies to give them the support they need. And now, with Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, we’re taking further steps to keep Britain protected.
Read on below to find out about some of the different ways we are keeping our streets safe and tackling violent crime.
As part of our policing policy, we’re pledging to recruit 20,000 more police officers to keep knives off our streets and protect you and your family.
And to support recruitment, the Government will shortly set out plans for a new national policing board. This ambitious recruitment target needs significant planning. So we’re working hard to deliver our Conservative policing plan by getting more officers onto our streets.
When Boris Johnson was Mayor of London, knife crime fell by 50% - in part because he put more police officers on the streets. That’s why we’ve already started recruiting more police. So we begin to make our streets safer right now.
More police officers are a step in the right direction, but we’re not stopping there. This month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to create 10,000 new prison places by building modern, efficient prisons which will provide better opportunities to reform criminals – which means less reoffending and a lower burden on the taxpayer.
By introducing more prison places, we can insist on tougher sentencing and keep violent criminals off the streets. We are investing up to £2.5 billion to deliver this commitment.
We want to make sure that no crime goes unpunished. But we also want to make sure that offenders are rehabilitated. That way, we can cut crime and cut the cost of crime to taxpayers. New prison places will help us make a start.
While we are getting more police officers on the street, we need to also give them the power to do their job effectively.
That’s why, in all 43 police authorities in England and Wales, we are making clear that the police can and should make use of stop and search.
Last year, almost 7,000 arrests for offensive weapons and 900 arrests for firearms were made following a stop and search. Expanding this across England and Wales will make it even harder for criminals to carry these weapons in public places.
By enhancing stop-and-search powers, we are giving police the support they need to end serious violence and keep people safe.
We want to stop knives and acids ending up on our streets. That’s why the Government has introduced the Offensive Weapons Act.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said that this Act ‘will give police extra powers to take dangerous weapons out of criminals’ hands’ and deter those involved in knife crime.
The Offensive Weapons Act, passed as part of the Conservative crime policy in May this year, contains a number of measures to tackle violent crime, including banning the sale of corrosive acids to under-18s and banning the sale of bladed products to a residential address without proof of age.
Want to know more about Boris Johnson’s plan? Read here about how we’re going to get this country back on the road to a brighter future.
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- 20,000 more police officers
- 10,000 new prison places
- Stop and Search introduced across England and Wales
- Stop knives and acid making their way onto our streets
- We’re urgently reviewing sentencing for violent offenders
Dangerous criminals need to be kept off of our streets, and the punishment they receive must fit the crime. But violent criminals are often let out too early – and go on to reoffend when they’re released.
That’s why we are urgently reviewing sentencing for violent offenders, to make sure people who commit violent crimes are kept in jail and rehabilitated before they’re released.
It is vital that criminals get the punishment they deserve. We are already working to introducing tougher punishments for domestic abusers as part of our Domestic Abuse Bill, brought before Parliament this year. However, there is more to do.
As part of our Conservative crime policy, we will closely examine how to break the vicious cycle of prolific, repeat offenders. And we will look into whether we need to change the law so that criminals cannot be let out if they have not served their full time.
Labour are soft on crime
We want dangerous criminals kept off our streets. We also want to see them properly punished for their crimes. That’s why we are taking a strong approach to law and justice.
Jeremy Corbyn, however, would see a return to Labour’s soft justice system. Labour’s crime policy was to cut police budgets in by 10% in 2015, while we promised to protect them – and we delivered, despite Labour voting against making £970 million extra available this year. And Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott opposes stop-and-search.
We need a strong approach to tackle crime – that’s why we’re funding and empowering police to keep our families, communities, and country safe. Labour have demonstrated how they would put that at risk. Only a Conservative crime policy would properly protect Britain from violent offenders.
