“Very dangerous to have police targets on arrests”

POLICE officers could be forced into making “soft arrests” by a target led performance culture in Essex Police, the Federation have warned this week.

Mark Smith, federation chairman, said teams across the force area – numbering around 12 officers – are being told by the force they need to make between 90 and 100 arrests per month.

He said it was “very dangerous to have targets on arrests”.

“Police officers will meet those targets,” said Mr Smith. “But the worry is that they are arresting the wrong people, that they may be soft arrests. Would these people have previously been arrested or given a warning?”

Mr Smith said officers who do not hit their targets risk being brought up on unsatisfactory performance by the force. He said that officers could be in breach of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 if they arrest for the wrong reasons.

“Officers on the street know when someone needs to be arrested,” he added. “This is all about chasing targets, added Mr Smith. The setting of these figures has got nothing to do with chasing the bad guys.

“Officers are not going to let bad guys walk away but with officers fearing they will not hit their targets there is a risk they will make soft arrests.

“That is unacceptable. It is not policing, it is chasing targets. It is not giving a service to the public. The target should be arresting the right people.”

Mr Smith said he had been raising his concerns over officers chasing targets with the force for the past four months.

In response, Assistant Chief Constable Julia Wortley said: “Arresting suspected offenders is a core element of police work. We do not set individual arrest targets for our officers.

“However, we do monitor the performance of our officers and staff across a wide range of activities to ensure a high quality of service to the public. As with many organisations Essex Police has a force-wide performance framework which helps us to monitor how well we are delivering policing services to the people of Essex. This includes such objectives as reducing crime and bringing offenders to justice.”

She added: “Clearly tackling offenders includes making arrests where appropriate. We measure and monitor the number of arrests made, as part of the broader performance framework, so that supervisors can ensure officers are exercising their powers appropriately and are delivering effective policing to their full potential. I’m sure this is what the public would expect us to do.

“I would not wish anyone to confuse the necessity of measuring and monitoring force performance with a perceived inappropriate pressure to make unnecessary arrests.”