A senior police leader has told the home secretary her promise that officers would follow all reasonable lines of enquiry “is not working” after he was “disappointed” in his own force when he became a victim of crime.
Forces made the commitment after Suella Braverman said in August it was “unacceptable” crimes such as shoplifting, criminal damage and phone or car theft have been treated as “less important”.
She was speaking at the annual conference of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) – the organisation that represents rank-and-file officers – on Wednesday.
Metropolitan Police officer Steve Hartshorn, the organisation’s national chairman, said the pledge to follow all reasonable lines of enquiry was a “great idea” but told Ms Braverman: “It’s not working.”
“I was a victim of crime about a month ago in my own force,” he added.
“They didn’t follow reasonable lines of enquiry. There was a great chance to capture forensics from inside the car – didn’t happen. I got a crime [reference] number, apparently had a phone call and that’s it. Nothing.
“I’m disappointed in my own force. So, forgive me home secretary. While it’s a great standard, it’s not being done.
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“Cops just don’t have the time because there’s so many calls, the volume of calls, the volume of crime out there.”
In an earlier speech Ms Braverman told officers they need “clarity from their political leaders”.
“I believe in investigating every crime, and I believe in keeping the public safe by catching criminals,” she told the conference, which is being held virtually in Manchester.
“Anything that distracts from this is unwelcome – whether that’s enforcing non-existent blasphemy laws, unnecessarily recording a non-crime hate incident, or joining in with political demonstrations.”
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Last month she commissioned a His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary review into how “political activism” among officers, including how actions like taking the knee, is impacting policing.
“I’m not fighting my campaign against political correctness in policing only for the sake of the law-abiding majority, who want to see officers patrolling the streets, not policing pronouns on Twitter,” she said in her speech.
“I also know that’s what the majority of you signed up for, too.”
Medal for heroes
She backed the PFEW’s campaign for a “medal for heroes”, a new posthumous award they want created to honour emergency services workers who have died in the line of duty.
The medal would be similar to the Elizabeth Cross, which is awarded to the bereaved relatives of members of the British Armed Forces killed in military action.
But Mr Hartshorn said he was disappointed the process is taking so long and was “really hoping for a decision today”.
Ms Braverman also announced funding to set up a 24/7 mental health crisis support line for current and former members of the police workforce and said she hopes to be able to approve the use of a new Taser, the T10, in the UK after testing by scientists next year.
The home secretary outlined plans to focus this winter on the prevention of homicides involving men aged over 25 killed in public.
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“Too often we have heard about a group of friends on a night out over Christmas ending in tragedy, with an argument escalating into a one-punch homicide,” she said.
“We are investing in the police’s national communications campaign to raise awareness of the danger of this appalling phenomenon and in local police-led activity to make pubs, other licensed premises, and the night-time economy safer this winter.”
