Home Office
It is an honour to join you today.
Let me start by saying there is no greater privilege as Home Secretary than working with the heroic men and women of our police.
And it is always deeply sobering and moving to hear the roll call of officers who have fallen in the line of duty in the past year.
Words cannot do justice to the debt we owe them, nor to how keenly we feel for their colleagues and loved ones.
And as Steve mentioned, I have personally been incredibly moved by attending the National Police Memorial Day in Cardiff only a few weeks ago, and also hosting the nominees for the Police Bravery Awards in Downing Street in London earlier this year.
Those heroes will be forever cherished.
I support your campaign for a medal for heroes. There is a consensus across government that this needs to happen and I hope we will be able to announce something very soon.
Its my job to enable you to do your jobs. Thats why my colleague the Policing Minister Chris Philp and I have taken the scissors to red tape. We listened when you said that you were spending too much time filling in forms. And im pleased to be working with the NPCC on reforming the rules.
By changing the rules around how crime is recorded, we could free up around 443,000 hours that could be put to better use.
There was no need to record two crimes when dealing with stalking, harassment, and controlling or coercive behaviour.
Nor to record Section 5 Public Order crimes when, on too many occasions, officers arrived only to find an empty street and no disorder.
It was right for bureaucratic reasons and in the cause of free speech to ensure that a malicious communication crime will be recorded only if a criminal threshold has clearly been reached, and not just when someone claims to be offended.
Now, Im 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.
I also know that thats what the majority of you signed up for, too.
Recruiting more than 20,000 additional officers and having a record number of officers in England and Wales is just the start.
But you need clarity from political leaders and I could not be clearer: I believe in the Peelian Principles of policing, I believe in investigating every crime, and I believe in keeping the public safe by catching criminals.
Anything that distracts from this is unwelcome whether thats enforcing non-existent blasphemy laws, unnecessarily recording a non-crime hate incident or joining in with political demonstrations.
Now, I understand that you as officers must make difficult operational decisions. But the public expects more than just a crime number.
They want to see the police taking visible action in communities and thoroughly investigating crime.
I am therefore delighted that the police have agreed to follow all reasonable lines of enquiry for all crime types.
And when I visited Greater Manchester Police, I saw how Chief Constable Steve Watson transformed that force by following that approach.
So I expect to see significant improvements in the way police approach crimes like phone theft, car theft, shoplifting, and criminal damage in order to solve more crimes and restore public confidence in local policing.
Crime investigations should not be screened out solely on the basis that they are perceived as minor and all crimes merit investigation where there is a reasonable line of enquiry to follow up.
Im also pleased that the police have all committed to attending the scene of every domestic burglary.
Its a terrible crime which causes misery and fear for victims.
Nor must we ignore the havoc wreaked by anti-social behaviour, and the governments action plan takes the fight to perpetrators, including through the dispensation of immediate justice.
And I was pleased to visit Essex police and Derbyshire police to see the rollout of some of the pilots.
Neighbourhood policing is the bedrock of keeping the public safe and making sure they feel safe too.
We must never forget that the fear of crime inhibits people hugely and diminishes the ability of communities to flourish.
So we need to continue to build trust between the police and the public. It is crucial that the police are accessible and accountable to communities.
I am grateful to PCCs and Chief Constables throughout England and Wales for sharing with me their plans to improve confidence in local policing and police visibility, and I will digest all this and look forward to receiving the results of these plans next March.
We also listened when you said that officers were having to spend too much time taking responsibility for people suffering mental health crises.
Make no mistake, mental health care really matters. This is about getting the right professionals to undertake the right tasks.
July saw the announcement of the new National Partnership Agreement, which will see a Right Care, Right Person model rolled out throughout England having been thoroughly achieved in Humberside.
Humberside Police estimate that this system has saved them over 1,400 hours per month of police time, and similar results across the English forces could save around one million hours.
The police will only be expected to attend mental health incidents if there is a real and immediate risk of serious harm or where there may be criminal activity.
Because, the truth is anyone suffering a mental health crisis needs the right support in the most appropriate setting. That is not a police cell.
Meanwhile, the Public Order Act has given the police greater powers and legal clarity for combatting disruptive protests, which have caused such chaos and eaten up so much police time and money.
Now, I will always back tried and tested ways of driving down crime.
We have trialled serious violence reduction orders, which allow the police to stop and search those with convictions for knife crime, to see if they are carrying a weapon.
Earlier this year, I saw for myself how well this is working in Merseyside.
And this government has made it easier than ever before for the police to make legitimate use of their stop and search powers.
At the same time, we have made the use of such powers more transparent and accountable.
And so, following a consultation earlier this year, the government will introduce a ban on certain types of large knives such as zombie-style knives and machetes. We will legislate when parliamentary time allows.
And from a personal perspective, having met knife crime campaigners in several forces, for example in Hertfordshire, I have seen the impact that knife legislation can have on saving lives.
Now technology is vital to enable you to achieve operational success.
Whether it is in Kent, where they are pioneering the use of technology to support domestic abuse victims, or in South Wales police through the use of facial recognition technology.
And I want to ensure that you have the best technology available.
Taser is a valuable tool for the police, and I have received a request from police leaders to approve a new Taser device, the T10, for use in the UK.
I want you to have the very best kit available, and so I hope to be able to approve the T10 after testing by scientists next year.
My officials will also continue to review markets to identify any new suppliers and ensure the best technology and the best value for money.
Now since March 2010, neighbourhood crime including burglary, robbery, and vehicle-related thefts are down by 51 per cent and violent crime down by 46 per cent.
So we, collectively, are making real progress in tackling high-harm crimes, and I thank you for your work. But there are always tragic reminders that a life can be snatched away in an instant.
So as part of the governments commitment to tackle homicide, I will work with the police this winter to put particular focus on the prevention of homicides involving men aged over 25 killed in public.
Because, 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.
We are investing in the polices 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.
Now another atrocious crime is rape. Getting police officers with the right skills is critical in the effort to progress and effectively manage cases.
Operation Soteria has highlighted the importance of specialist knowledge.
The National Operating Model is now being implemented by all police forces in England and Wales. This innovative approach has brought about real change in the pioneering force, Avon and Somerset.
It has given officers better tools to improve their decision-making processes, and I have heard first-hand from those supporting victims locally how Chief Constable Sarah Crews force is ensuring victims needs and rights are front and centre.
2,000 police investigators will receive new specialist training in rape and sexual offences by next April. And it will be compulsory for all new recruits to undertake rape and sexual offences training.
Rape is one of those crimes that make your job incredibly demanding emotionally and psychologically.
It cannot be repeated often enough that you do a job that makes unique and enormou