Police to regain power to charge suspects

19/05/2010

 

Police officers in England and Wales will be given more discretion to decide when crime suspects should be charged, the home secretary has said.

In her first major speech as home secretary, Theresa May is expected to tell the Police Federation annual conference that the Crown Prosecution Service will lose the power to decide whether many cases should go to court as part of her drive against police bureaucracy.

Police are expected to be given the power to charge a suspect in most ‘summary’ cases which are tried by magistrates and in some "either-way" cases that can also be heard in the crown court. The CPS is to retain the power to charge in more serious cases.

Ms May told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think we need to give more power back to the police on the beat... to be able to exercise their discretion to make decisions about charging in certain offences."

She said the current system was "inefficient" with too many suspects being released on bail because it took so long to hear their cases.

"Police officers have felt they've done the job, they've known what was happening, they've identified the perpetrators of crime and yet nothing has happened. I think we need to restore the right balance," the home secretary said.

"It's actually about saying to police officers that we trust them to do the job they've been trained to do."

Ministers say the new plan could save at least a million hours of police time each year. The Conservative’s have also claimed the new system will end criticism aimed the CPS, who have in the past been accused of ‘cherry picking’ cases in order to meet targets, while many victims of crime complain that too many cases are dropped, meaning offenders avoid facing the courts.  

The Police Federation has said it is in support of the move. The Federation’s chairman, Paul McKeever said the proposals would cut bureaucracy and treat officers "like adults".

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