Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

Wales’ police forces told ‘Common sense policing’ must come first over ‘symbolic gestures’

24 Sep 2022 2 minute read
Home Secretary Suella Braverman talks with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley

Suella Braverman has written to police forces in Wales telling them that “common sense policing” must take priority over diversity and inclusion initiatives.

In an open letter to police chiefs in England and Wales released on Saturday, the Home Secretary set out her key priorities for the police and her crime-cutting agenda.

Ms Braverman said she is “dismayed” by the apparent deterioration of confidence in the police over recent years after high-profile incidents have “shattered” public trust.

“Culture and standards in the police have to change, particularly in London,” she wrote.

“It is absolutely vital that trust is restored and to address this, we must have visible and responsive policing.”

Ms Braverman said that there is also a perception forces have had to spend too much time on “symbolic gestures” than “actually fighting criminals”.

“This must change,” she said.

“Initiatives on diversity and inclusion should not take precedence over common sense policing.”

Expectations

The Home Secretary went on to lay out her expectations of the police force, which included cutting serious violence, homicide and neighbourhood crime by 20%.

She said she is also “deeply concerned” by the current level of cases being investigated and then prosecuted.

“I want to investigate how we can improve charge rates which have dropped for many crimes, but none more so than for rape and sexual offences against women and children,” she said.

Ms Braverman added that she will ensure forces have the tools and resources required for improvement.

This includes delivering an additional 20,000 officers promised through the Police Uplift Programme and the hundreds of millions of pounds in funding that the Government has committed for 2022-2023.

She said: “At its best, policing in this country is the best in the world.

“That must and can be the standard that all forces hit.

“You have my full support in making that happen.”

The full letter can be read here.


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Llyn
Llyn
1 year ago

The only people who believe that forces have had to spend too much time on “symbolic gestures” rather than “actually fighting criminals” are Suella and her fellow crazed cancel culture obsessives who are foolish enough to believe what is written in the right wing press.

Gareth
Gareth
1 year ago

Her “crime cutting agenda” may have been helped, if the Tory Gov’s of the last 12 years had not made such drastic cuts to the numbers of police officers. We need powers over policing devolved to meet our specific needs, and the money to implement such a strategy.

Ernie The Smallholder
Ernie The Smallholder
1 year ago

The common sense solution IS to transfer control of Police & Justice to the democratically elected Senedd Cymru.

Just as it is in Scotland.

Fi yn unig
Fi yn unig
1 year ago

This brash boot up the backside letter to underfunded police forces with constables who risk their lives on small and ever decreasing salaries comes at the same time as we are being shown what quote ‘British values’ are all about. Piling limitless cash into the accounts of the 1% while the 99% go hang, starve, freeze and die. It’s almost always Tories who bang on about British values but to use this cringeworthy and chilling line when it was known what was coming in yesterdays ‘Fiscal event’ is absolutely staggering. Policing should be devolved to Cymru regardless but if only… Read more »

The Original Mark
The Original Mark
1 year ago

why doesn’t this politician use her real name?
just another hard core right wing tory,
looks like the whole of the UK is in for a rough few years, until a serious opposition party appears.

defaid
defaid
1 year ago

Sue-Ellen Cassiana Braverman?

Or do you mean Fernandes, her surname before she married?

I’ve no argument with the rest of your comment though. Quoting Wikipedia:

‘She has said, “If I get trolled and I provoke a bad response on Twitter I know I’m doing the right thing. Twitter is a sewer of left-wing bile. The extreme left pile on is often a consequence of sound conservative values.”‘

Pretty messed-up world view…

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.