The Telegraph, 28th March 2025
The police are facing terminal decline
We often hear about the public’s loss of confidence in the police. This is no longer just an anecdotal observation; it’s a grim reality backed by evidence. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (data based on responses provided by the public) estimated that 8.5 million offences occurred in 2023. But only 6.7million crimes were recorded by the police in the same period. The conclusion is clear: nearly 2 million crimes went unreported.
Many people simply don’t bother calling the police anymore if they are mugged or witness open drug use. Why would they? When officers are busy scanning social media for “offensive” words, taking the knee at protests, or failing to act against those openly glorifying terrorism on British streets, it’s clear that their priorities have shifted.
But one element of this crisis goes largely unexplored: the police themselves have lost confidence in their own ability to keep us safe. The very people we rely on to enforce the law are now second-guessing their every move, paralysed by fear – not of criminals, but of the legal and political minefield they must navigate to do their jobs.
Take the case of the Head of the Met’s Police Federation, Rick Prior, who was reportedly suspended for simply pointing out an uncomfortable truth: police officers in London are reluctant to engage in proactive policing for fear of being labelled racist.
Of the 30,000 officers he represents, he asserts that many now hold back from taking action. They are worried that a single mistake – or a malicious complaint – could end their careers.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), once a body meant to ensure accountability, is now viewed by many rank-and-file officers as an over-zealous watchdog eager to pounce on those who step out of line, regardless of intent or context.
Having met hundreds of officers across the country, I can say with certainty that Prior’s assessment in this regard is correct. We have thousands of brave and inspiring men and women who sign up to serve, but many of them no longer feel empowered to act.
They see their colleagues suspended or dragged through the courts simply for doing their jobs. The psychological toll is immense. Why take a risk, follow a hunch, or intervene decisively if the potential reward is career ruin? Far better to do nothing, avoid the scrutiny of social media, and let crime rise as a result.
It’s no wonder that Met Police Officers are quitting in droves. Over the last few years, police officer numbers have risen around the country, yet in London they have fallen to the lowest staffing levels in a decade.
When Metropolitan Police firearms officer Sergeant Martyn Blake was charged with murder for fatally shooting a known gang member and violent criminal, Chris Kaba, many officers saw it as a warning: act in good faith, even in defence of the public, and you could still end up in the dock.
Who would want to take on such a role when the risks outweigh the rewards? The CPS’s decision to charge should never have been made – this is illustrated by the mere 3 hours it took the jury to unanimously acquit Sergeant Blake.
This isn’t to say the police should operate without oversight. History has shown us what happens when power goes unchecked. The failures surrounding the Stephen Lawrence case proved that corruption and negligence can flourish without accountability. And we have all seen the catastrophic damage done by officers like Wayne Couzens and David Carrick – men who should never have been allowed to wear the badge.
But the balance has tipped too far. The race card is played against the police so often that it has corroded their confidence to a dangerous degree. When Avon and Somerset’s Chief Constable, Sarah Crew, declared her own force to be “institutionally racist,” she didn’t just issue a personal mea culpa – she effectively branded thousands of officers as racist by default and discouraged them from engaging with the very communities they are meant to protect.
The inevitable result? A dramatic drop in stop-and-search rates, which fell by a quarter last year. And what happens when stop-and-search declines? Knife crime rises. More stabbings, more deaths, and more grieving families.
Or consider this: judges are handing down fewer custodial sentences. Imagine the scene – police officers painstakingly build cases over months, sometimes years. They put themselves in harm’s way to make arrests, their investigations are subject to endless scrutiny to ensure the evidence stands up in court.
And yet, when guilt is finally established, what follows? A suspended sentence. A token punishment. A quiet nod to the offender, who then walks free, only to reoffend. Early release schemes in recent months have further eroded faith; now, even the initial sentence barely holds weight.
Morale among police officers is at rock bottom. In the 2023 Pay and Morale Survey, 73 per cent of officers said they would not recommend joining the force. No wonder. Why sign up to a job where you’re demonised and hounded by activists, and thrown under the bus by your own leadership?
Meanwhile, charge rates for crimes have collapsed, from 15 per cent in 2015 to just 5.6 per cent in 2022. Criminals have taken notice. They know the police have been neutered. And they are acting accordingly.
If Britain wants to reverse this decline, we must restore confidence – not just in the public, but in the police themselves. That means standing by officers when they act in good faith, not hanging them out to dry the moment controversy arises.
It means putting law enforcement above political posturing. And it means remembering that a demoralised police force doesn’t just fail in its duties. It fails all of us.
Suella
