Chief Constable Richard Lewis, the head of performance for the National Council of Chief Police Officers, said he and law enforcement leaders wanted to work with the new government. But in a commentary for the Guardian, Lewis said the “back to basics” rhetoric was not serving the public. Lewis said the effects of policing cuts made by Conservative governments were still being felt and called on ministers to stop describing the recruitment of 20,000 officers as an “uplift” as it replaced those lost since 2010. During the Tory leadership race, Truss – who is widely expected to win on Monday – announced a raft of law and order policies, including a return to national crime targets, holding chief constables to account if their forces fail to deal with them. Her campaign said she would make sure officers “police our streets, not Twitter conversations.” Lewis’s concern about her comments is shared by other police chiefs, who believe there is no hard evidence to support the claim that real crimes are routinely ignored because officers waste time on pointless Twitter fights and “wakes”. Another chief constable from a well-performing force told the Guardian there were fears the government was struggling for law and order, and therefore “set up policing” for responsibility. They said: “We have been diced up” and added: “There is no power that is not overwhelmed by crime, demands and mental health.” Lewis, the chief constable of the Dyfed-Powys force, said the debate on policing was welcome but added: “The public is not well served by calls for the force to ‘investigate real crime as opposed to Twitter feuds and hurt feelings”. or blanket phrases such as ‘back to basics’ as used by the Liz Truss campaign. “I was particularly interested in Liz Truss’ ‘back to basics’ crime strategy, which would include ranking forces in league tables, pledging to recruit 20,000 more police officers and cut murders and violent crime by 20% and visiting by officer for each residential burglary victim. “While these demands may make catchy headlines, they are meaningless without further explanation from the Tory leadership hopeful.” Truss called for 20% cuts to key types of crime, such as murder. Centrally defined targets entered Labor but were rejected because they led to perverse incentives, with officers prioritizing target-based crimes while paying less attention to those that were not, even if they caused more damage. Lewis said chasing sound-friendly numbers was unrealistic: “The judgment of whether a force is ‘failing’ cannot be reduced to an apparent inability to reduce crimes such as homicide by 20% (again, as Truss suggests). “Whilst I recognize that police forces can always do more to reduce crime, it is not in our gift to reduce the most serious crimes by a round and friendly sounding number of 20%. He said while more needed to be done, homicide had fallen by 12% in the year to March 2021: “This may be politically inconvenient when we argue for the need to reduce crime, but it provides important context.” Lewis added: “Furthermore, the government holding only constables to account for cutting certain types of crime is akin to holding only doctors to account for patients who develop cancer. obviously an absurd thing. As with health, important external factors come into play when looking at crime, including social factors such as poverty, over which the police service has no control.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Lewis said that improving the police response to burglaries, for example by ensuring that every victim is visited by a police officer, would require resources: “This was more difficult to achieve than the Tory austerity program as the number of police officers was significantly reduced. “We must, however, stop calling the investment a ‘raise’ of 20,000 officers in the way the government is characterizing it (and I believe the public sees through this clever use of terminology).” Lewis said the new government had to decide whether it wanted localism, as introduced by Theresa May when she was home secretary, or would pass new laws to bring policing under greater central government control and direction. “There is also an inherent contradiction between the Truss’ call for government intervention in the performance of any given police force and the local role of police and crime commissioners (a Tory creation, after all),” he said. Lewis said there were signs of hope in some medium to long-term drug initiatives introduced by Boris Johnson’s government, which showed “a real commitment to solving long-term social problems, which is appreciated”. Explaining why he spoke out, Lewis said: “Conversations between the police service and ministers are generally conducted discreetly, but when public policy ideas like Truss’s ‘back to basics’ are touted, we have a duty to respectfully challenge them to help raising the public discourse. “Arbitrary demands to reduce crime by specific amounts, which often lead to perverse behaviors (such as focusing on easier-to-achieve outcomes as opposed to more difficult but more worthwhile ones) should be avoided.” Truss has been contacted for comment.

title: “Liz Truss Law And Order Policies Make No Sense Police Chief Says Police Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Philip Figueroa”

Chief Constable Richard Lewis, the head of performance for the National Council of Chief Police Officers, said he and law enforcement leaders wanted to work with the new government. But in a commentary for the Guardian, Lewis said the “back to basics” rhetoric was not serving the public. Lewis said the effects of policing cuts made by Conservative governments were still being felt and called on ministers to stop describing the recruitment of 20,000 officers as an “uplift” as it replaced those lost since 2010. During the Tory leadership race, Truss – who is widely expected to win on Monday – announced a raft of law and order policies, including a return to national crime targets, holding chief constables to account if their forces fail to deal with them. Her campaign said she would make sure officers “police our streets, not Twitter conversations.” Lewis’s concern about her comments is shared by other police chiefs, who believe there is no hard evidence to support the claim that real crimes are routinely ignored because officers waste time on pointless Twitter fights and “wakes”. Another chief constable from a well-performing force told the Guardian there were fears the government was struggling for law and order, and therefore “set up policing” for responsibility. They said: “We have been diced up” and added: “There is no power that is not overwhelmed by crime, demands and mental health.” Lewis, the chief constable of the Dyfed-Powys force, said the debate on policing was welcome but added: “The public is not well served by calls for the force to ‘investigate real crime as opposed to Twitter feuds and hurt feelings”. or blanket phrases such as ‘back to basics’ as used by the Liz Truss campaign. “I was particularly interested in Liz Truss’ ‘back to basics’ crime strategy, which would include ranking forces in league tables, pledging to recruit 20,000 more police officers and cut murders and violent crime by 20% and visiting by officer for each residential burglary victim. “While these demands may make catchy headlines, they are meaningless without further explanation from the Tory leadership hopeful.” Truss called for 20% cuts to key types of crime, such as murder. Centrally defined targets entered Labor but were rejected because they led to perverse incentives, with officers prioritizing target-based crimes while paying less attention to those that were not, even if they caused more damage. Lewis said chasing sound-friendly numbers was unrealistic: “The judgment of whether a force is ‘failing’ cannot be reduced to an apparent inability to reduce crimes such as homicide by 20% (again, as Truss suggests). “Whilst I recognize that police forces can always do more to reduce crime, it is not in our gift to reduce the most serious crimes by a round and friendly sounding number of 20%. He said while more needed to be done, homicide had fallen by 12% in the year to March 2021: “This may be politically inconvenient when we argue for the need to reduce crime, but it provides important context.” Lewis added: “Furthermore, the government holding only constables to account for cutting certain types of crime is akin to holding only doctors to account for patients who develop cancer. obviously an absurd thing. As with health, important external factors come into play when looking at crime, including social factors such as poverty, over which the police service has no control.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Lewis said that improving the police response to burglaries, for example by ensuring that every victim is visited by a police officer, would require resources: “This was more difficult to achieve than the Tory austerity program as the number of police officers was significantly reduced. “We must, however, stop calling the investment a ‘raise’ of 20,000 officers in the way the government is characterizing it (and I believe the public sees through this clever use of terminology).” Lewis said the new government had to decide whether it wanted localism, as introduced by Theresa May when she was home secretary, or would pass new laws to bring policing under greater central government control and direction. “There is also an inherent contradiction between the Truss’ call for government intervention in the performance of any given police force and the local role of police and crime commissioners (a Tory creation, after all),” he said. Lewis said there were signs of hope in some medium to long-term drug initiatives introduced by Boris Johnson’s government, which showed “a real commitment to solving long-term social problems, which is appreciated”. Explaining why he spoke out, Lewis said: “Conversations between the police service and ministers are generally conducted discreetly, but when public policy ideas like Truss’s ‘back to basics’ are touted, we have a duty to respectfully challenge them to help raising the public discourse. “Arbitrary demands to reduce crime by specific amounts, which often lead to perverse behaviors (such as focusing on easier-to-achieve outcomes as opposed to more difficult but more worthwhile ones) should be avoided.” Truss has been contacted for comment.

title: “Liz Truss Law And Order Policies Make No Sense Police Chief Says Police Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-28” author: “Karen Owens”

Chief Constable Richard Lewis, the head of performance for the National Council of Chief Police Officers, said he and law enforcement leaders wanted to work with the new government. But in a commentary for the Guardian, Lewis said the “back to basics” rhetoric was not serving the public. Lewis said the effects of policing cuts made by Conservative governments were still being felt and called on ministers to stop describing the recruitment of 20,000 officers as an “uplift” as it replaced those lost since 2010. During the Tory leadership race, Truss – who is widely expected to win on Monday – announced a raft of law and order policies, including a return to national crime targets, holding chief constables to account if their forces fail to deal with them. Her campaign said she would make sure officers “police our streets, not Twitter conversations.” Lewis’s concern about her comments is shared by other police chiefs, who believe there is no hard evidence to support the claim that real crimes are routinely ignored because officers waste time on pointless Twitter fights and “wakes”. Another chief constable from a well-performing force told the Guardian there were fears the government was struggling for law and order, and therefore “set up policing” for responsibility. They said: “We have been diced up” and added: “There is no power that is not overwhelmed by crime, demands and mental health.” Lewis, the chief constable of the Dyfed-Powys force, said the debate on policing was welcome but added: “The public is not well served by calls for the force to ‘investigate real crime as opposed to Twitter feuds and hurt feelings”. or blanket phrases such as ‘back to basics’ as used by the Liz Truss campaign. “I was particularly interested in Liz Truss’ ‘back to basics’ crime strategy, which would include ranking forces in league tables, pledging to recruit 20,000 more police officers and cut murders and violent crime by 20% and visiting by officer for each residential burglary victim. “While these demands may make catchy headlines, they are meaningless without further explanation from the Tory leadership hopeful.” Truss called for 20% cuts to key types of crime, such as murder. Centrally defined targets entered Labor but were rejected because they led to perverse incentives, with officers prioritizing target-based crimes while paying less attention to those that were not, even if they caused more damage. Lewis said chasing sound-friendly numbers was unrealistic: “The judgment of whether a force is ‘failing’ cannot be reduced to an apparent inability to reduce crimes such as homicide by 20% (again, as Truss suggests). “Whilst I recognize that police forces can always do more to reduce crime, it is not in our gift to reduce the most serious crimes by a round and friendly sounding number of 20%. He said while more needed to be done, homicide had fallen by 12% in the year to March 2021: “This may be politically inconvenient when we argue for the need to reduce crime, but it provides important context.” Lewis added: “Furthermore, the government holding only constables to account for cutting certain types of crime is akin to holding only doctors to account for patients who develop cancer. obviously an absurd thing. As with health, important external factors come into play when looking at crime, including social factors such as poverty, over which the police service has no control.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Lewis said that improving the police response to burglaries, for example by ensuring that every victim is visited by a police officer, would require resources: “This was more difficult to achieve than the Tory austerity program as the number of police officers was significantly reduced. “We must, however, stop calling the investment a ‘raise’ of 20,000 officers in the way the government is characterizing it (and I believe the public sees through this clever use of terminology).” Lewis said the new government had to decide whether it wanted localism, as introduced by Theresa May when she was home secretary, or would pass new laws to bring policing under greater central government control and direction. “There is also an inherent contradiction between the Truss’ call for government intervention in the performance of any given police force and the local role of police and crime commissioners (a Tory creation, after all),” he said. Lewis said there were signs of hope in some medium to long-term drug initiatives introduced by Boris Johnson’s government, which showed “a real commitment to solving long-term social problems, which is appreciated”. Explaining why he spoke out, Lewis said: “Conversations between the police service and ministers are generally conducted discreetly, but when public policy ideas like Truss’s ‘back to basics’ are touted, we have a duty to respectfully challenge them to help raising the public discourse. “Arbitrary demands to reduce crime by specific amounts, which often lead to perverse behaviors (such as focusing on easier-to-achieve outcomes as opposed to more difficult but more worthwhile ones) should be avoided.” Truss has been contacted for comment.

title: “Liz Truss Law And Order Policies Make No Sense Police Chief Says Police Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-18” author: “Richard Reed”

Chief Constable Richard Lewis, the head of performance for the National Council of Chief Police Officers, said he and law enforcement leaders wanted to work with the new government. But in a commentary for the Guardian, Lewis said the “back to basics” rhetoric was not serving the public. Lewis said the effects of policing cuts made by Conservative governments were still being felt and called on ministers to stop describing the recruitment of 20,000 officers as an “uplift” as it replaced those lost since 2010. During the Tory leadership race, Truss – who is widely expected to win on Monday – announced a raft of law and order policies, including a return to national crime targets, holding chief constables to account if their forces fail to deal with them. Her campaign said she would make sure officers “police our streets, not Twitter conversations.” Lewis’s concern about her comments is shared by other police chiefs, who believe there is no hard evidence to support the claim that real crimes are routinely ignored because officers waste time on pointless Twitter fights and “wakes”. Another chief constable from a well-performing force told the Guardian there were fears the government was struggling for law and order, and therefore “set up policing” for responsibility. They said: “We have been diced up” and added: “There is no power that is not overwhelmed by crime, demands and mental health.” Lewis, the chief constable of the Dyfed-Powys force, said the debate on policing was welcome but added: “The public is not well served by calls for the force to ‘investigate real crime as opposed to Twitter feuds and hurt feelings”. or blanket phrases such as ‘back to basics’ as used by the Liz Truss campaign. “I was particularly interested in Liz Truss’ ‘back to basics’ crime strategy, which would include ranking forces in league tables, pledging to recruit 20,000 more police officers and cut murders and violent crime by 20% and visiting by officer for each residential burglary victim. “While these demands may make catchy headlines, they are meaningless without further explanation from the Tory leadership hopeful.” Truss called for 20% cuts to key types of crime, such as murder. Centrally defined targets entered Labor but were rejected because they led to perverse incentives, with officers prioritizing target-based crimes while paying less attention to those that were not, even if they caused more damage. Lewis said chasing sound-friendly numbers was unrealistic: “The judgment of whether a force is ‘failing’ cannot be reduced to an apparent inability to reduce crimes such as homicide by 20% (again, as Truss suggests). “Whilst I recognize that police forces can always do more to reduce crime, it is not in our gift to reduce the most serious crimes by a round and friendly sounding number of 20%. He said while more needed to be done, homicide had fallen by 12% in the year to March 2021: “This may be politically inconvenient when we argue for the need to reduce crime, but it provides important context.” Lewis added: “Furthermore, the government holding only constables to account for cutting certain types of crime is akin to holding only doctors to account for patients who develop cancer. obviously an absurd thing. As with health, important external factors come into play when looking at crime, including social factors such as poverty, over which the police service has no control.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Lewis said that improving the police response to burglaries, for example by ensuring that every victim is visited by a police officer, would require resources: “This was more difficult to achieve than the Tory austerity program as the number of police officers was significantly reduced. “We must, however, stop calling the investment a ‘raise’ of 20,000 officers in the way the government is characterizing it (and I believe the public sees through this clever use of terminology).” Lewis said the new government had to decide whether it wanted localism, as introduced by Theresa May when she was home secretary, or would pass new laws to bring policing under greater central government control and direction. “There is also an inherent contradiction between the Truss’ call for government intervention in the performance of any given police force and the local role of police and crime commissioners (a Tory creation, after all),” he said. Lewis said there were signs of hope in some medium to long-term drug initiatives introduced by Boris Johnson’s government, which showed “a real commitment to solving long-term social problems, which is appreciated”. Explaining why he spoke out, Lewis said: “Conversations between the police service and ministers are generally conducted discreetly, but when public policy ideas like Truss’s ‘back to basics’ are touted, we have a duty to respectfully challenge them to help raising the public discourse. “Arbitrary demands to reduce crime by specific amounts, which often lead to perverse behaviors (such as focusing on easier-to-achieve outcomes as opposed to more difficult but more worthwhile ones) should be avoided.” Truss has been contacted for comment.