15 Most Recent Stories From Liberal Democrats : Justice and Crime News Feed

Thu 4th Sep 2008:

Lib Dems outline radical police and criminal justice reforms.

The Liberal Democrats today accused both Labour and the Conservatives of ducking the hard decisions on police reform in favour of a sentencing arms race, as they launched their proposals for fundamental reform of the way the police are run.The ideas, outlined in the paper Cutting Crime: Catching Criminals With Better Policing, highlight the urgent need to move the criminal justice debate away from what sounds tough to what actually works, with a shift away from prison towards policing and detection. The main proposals include: Reviewing the police contract including lifetime employment for 30 years, the single point of entry and pay levels Annual fitness tests for frontline officers Decentralising the force by scrapping counterproductive central targets, introducing the local setting of priorities and budgets and the direct election of the majority of police authority members Creating a National Crime Reduction Agency to assess police and criminal justice policies on evidence and to spread best practice Respecting police pay awards from the Police Arbitration Tribunal 10,000 extra police on the streets, paid for by scrapping ID cards Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:"For too long, policing and criminal justice policy have been decided by what sounds tough, rather than what works."Prison, a sentencing arms race between Labour and the Tories, and Labour’s legislative diarrhoea in creating 3,600 new criminal offences since 1997, have been used as a proxy for real action on crime. "The radical proposals outlined by the Liberal Democrats today are designed to shift the debate away from posturing on penalties and towards catching criminals."Labour and the Conservatives have repeatedly ducked the difficult decisions on police reform. Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to a review of outdated working practices in the police." To download a copy of the paper click here.

Thu 7th Aug 2008:

Liberal Democrats outline youth crime proposals.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne, today accused both Labour and the Conservatives of ‘falling over each other to be tough on crime’ as he promoted his party’s new plans for stopping young people from committing crimes.The ideas outlined in the document A Life Away From Crime also highlight how to stop children who have been found guilty of minor offences from committing more serious crimes.The main proposals include: Making young people pay back the damage caused to communities without involving the criminal justice system The formation of a Youth Volunteer Force to engage young people in activities that benefit local people Running nationwide restorative justice programmes, with a particular emphasis on early intervention in schools and care homes Creating a dedicated PCSO youth officer in every area to work with teenagers most at risk of offending Targeting guns and knives through intelligence-led stop and search, hot-spot policing and action in schools Chris Huhne said:"If we want to tackle the problem of youth crime, we need to take action early to stop kids from embarking on a life of crime before it’s too late. "The old parties are falling over each other trying to be tough on crime, but nothing is being done do stop young people getting sucked in to a cycle of crime."Ministers know that programmes to divert kids away from crime work, and are even happy to promote such projects. However, they have failed to fund them properly in favour of punitive policies that grab headlines but achieve little."It is time for a new approach to youth justice which both prevents crime and confronts young people with their actions if they do break the law." To read the paper click here.

Fri 5th Sep 2008:

Government failure on juvenile re-offending unsurprising - Howarth.

Commenting on the Government’s failure to meet its performance target on reducing re-offending by child criminals, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, David Howarth said: "It is little wonder that the Government has failed to meet its own modest targets on juvenile re-offending. "The last decade has witnessed the unnecessary criminalisation of thousands of children and record levels of youth incarceration. "Ministers must eventually realise that alternative forms of punishment, such as rigorous community sentences and restorative justice are far more effective than prison at reducing re-offending."

Government should prosecute pimps not customers - Featherstone.

Commenting on Harriet Harman’s drive to make buying sex illegal, Liberal Democrat Equalities Spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone said: "Before introducing this new law, the Government has to prove that outlawing paying for sex will reduce trafficking. I remain to be convinced. The statute book is already littered with offences relating to prostitution, some of which are rarely used. "We should be gunning directly for the perpetrators - the pimps, the traffickers and the drug dealers that support this underworld, with better resourced policing that disrupts their actions. "Organised crime is not going to be put out of business by Labour’s latest headline grabber."

Tue 2nd Sep 2008:

Nacro prisons bid welcome given mess Government has made - Howarth.

Commenting on reports that prison reform charity Nacro is bidding to run two prisons, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, David Howarth said: "Given the mess the Government has made of managing prisons, it is pleasing that Nacro are getting involved on the ‘if you can’t beat them join them’ principle. "It will take a large effort, however, to improve the performance of Group 4 Securicor."

Elected sheriffs could lead to 'Wild West' mentality - Huhne.

Commenting on today’s [Tuesday] Reform report, which calls for a national police force and elected sheriffs, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "This report is right to highlight the repeated failures and centralisation of crime and policing policy under previous Labour and Conservative governments. "However, a single elected sheriff could lead to a ‘Wild West’ mentality, not policing that works. "We should scrap national targets and give local people the information and power to hold their own police force to account. "SOCA should be strengthened so it can take on the big criminal gangs, but an all powerful national police force responsible only to the Home Office risks becoming a bureaucratic and unaccountable mess."

Thu 28th Aug 2008:

Titan prisons will leave prisoners rootless and unskilled - Lord Thomas.

Commenting on today’s [Thursday] Prison Reform Trust report which criticises Titan prisons, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, Lord (Martin) Thomas said: "It is inevitable that prisoners in huge jails far from home will lose touch with their families and friends and end up leaving prison rootless and unskilled. "The more prisoners there are, the more ex-convicts you will end up managing. This country’s very high reconviction rate shows that prisons are currently failing to rehabilitate convicts, while often destroying families and jobs."

Wed 27th Aug 2008:

Titan prisons are asking for trouble - Lord Thomas.

Commenting on today’s National Council of Independent Monitoring Boards report on the Government’s proposed Titan prisons, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, Lord (Martin) Thomas said: "Putting nearly three thousand prisoners together is asking for trouble. "The sheer scale of the organisation that will be required will do nothing to rehabilitate prisoners or prepare them for eventual release back into the community."

Fri 15th Aug 2008:

Chris Sims right to criticise centralised police targets - Huhne.

Commenting on criticisms by the Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police, Chris Sims, of centralised targets, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "The Chief Constable is spot on about the ludicrous results of national targets, that fail to take account of local needs and priorities. "It is local people who should hold police to account for delivering local priorities."

New website further evidence of slumping police morale - Huhne.

Commenting on the news that a website has been set up to help police officers get second jobs, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "This is another example of the unintended results and slumping morale caused by ministers’ foolhardy refusal to honour the independent pay award. "Police have particular constraints on what they can do compared with the rest of us as they are not allowed to strike, and have to get permission before undertaking another job in their spare time. In exchange, ministers should keep their promises."

Alarming drugs figures reveal wasted generation - Gidley.

Commenting on figures revealed today showing the number of under-16s admitted to hospital due to illegal drugs has risen by almost half in a decade, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Sandra Gidley said: "These alarming figures reveal a wasted generation. How many more lives will be lost before the Government takes effective action? "As a society we can’t go on seeing so many young lives wasted. We need better education and more powers to tackle the dealers who profit from this human misery. "It is also important that those who want to turn around their lives should receive help in a timely fashion. The current system is tinkering around the edges of the problem."

Wed 13th Aug 2008:

Julian Critchley right to reopen drugs debate - Huhne.

Responding to former Government drugs adviser Julian Critchley’s comments that current drug policy is the equivalent of ‘shifting the deckchairs around on the Titanic’, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "Julian Critchley is right to reopen the debate about the Government’s failed policies to tackle drugs. "Offenders who are addicts need medical care or they will merely go out to steal again to feed their habit."

Government's crass police pay decision compromising public safety - Huhne.

Commenting on today’s Police Federation announcement that frontline police officers are to launch a ‘work to rule’ after the breakdown of talks over pay, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "This is what happens when the Government refuses to honour pay negotiations for a workforce that cannot strike. "Ministers have not only shattered police morale, but their crass decision is now compromising public safety. "This is the first Government that has failed to honour a Police Arbitration Tribunal decision. Its breach of faith is foolish, short-sighted and dangerous."

Ministers must implement recommendations on the treatment of older prisoners - Howarth.

Commenting on today’s Chief Inspector of Prisons review of the treatment and conditions of older prisoners, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, David Howarth said: "This is yet another example of ministers not thinking through the long term consequences of their short term political fixes. "The Government must implement Ann Owers’ recommendations in full."

Tue 12th Aug 2008:

Tories' plan would be snoopers' charter - Huhne.

Commenting on Conservative plans to give the police greater powers to conduct surveillance operations against people suspected of non-terrorist offences, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said: "The Conservatives’ dalliance with liberalism is as dead as a dodo. "In the last few weeks, senior Tories have promised tougher bail conditions, automatic jail for knife carriers and more prisons. Now they want automatic police use of covert video and listening devices, regardless of the seriousness of the suspected crime. "This would turn into as much of a snoopers’ charter as local councils’ surveillance powers for dog mess. We need to roll back the surveillance state, not give it new powers. "We should cut paperwork, but not cut checks and balances on state power being used proportionately."

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