Victims' safety and safeguarding most important in early prisoner release announcement

Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has said victims’ safety and wellbeing – and ensuring all partners including Wiltshire Police can provide an appropriate level of safeguarding – has to be at the centre of an approach to ease the prisons’ crisis by early release of prisoners.

Last week, the Government announced plans to ease the current prison crisis, which is nearly at capacity, by releasing large numbers of prisoners later this year after they have completed just 40% of their sentence.

All Police and Crime Commissioners were briefed by Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood MP in a letter on Friday, which revealed the prison system was rapidly running out of space in the adult male prison estate.

PCC Philip Wilkinson tentatively supported the scheme, which he described as ‘the least-worst option’, but warned that the impact on victims of those released carried the most risk and must be the first people considered.

Mr Wilkinson said: “I do recognise the challenges being faced nationally within the prison service and, of course, I am completely cognisant of the fact this current course of action being looked at to ease this crisis is the least-worst option.

“I can only add a tentative level of support for this if the Government are considering victims safety – and their wellbeing – at the very basis for the plans currently being worked upon.

“We are yet, as a county, to know what this early release scenario looks like for us in terms of numbers of prisoners who will come back to our area or by the numbers of victims we may be faced with to provide additional support to or offer safeguarding.

“But what we have to do locally – and my role will ensure this happens – is to plan for this and enable engagement with a wide range of partners including Wiltshire Police and across the criminal justice, and local authority, systems.

“We need them to work together effectively – and without bureaucratic barriers - so we safely and comprehensively manage any risk to the public, alongside the safeguarding of victims, with the current early release proposals.”

Mr Wilkinson also wanted to reassure communities that just because prisons were currently close to capacity, this would not affect the arrests of suspects as necessary – and he had received assurance from Wiltshire Police that this was the case.

He said: “It is the core responsibility of Wiltshire Police to keep our communities, and those most vulnerable, safe. Despite the national issues with prison capacity, this will continue to be the Force’s primary focus in our county.

 “Residents should be reassured that the Chief Constable has directed her officers to continue to arrest suspects as usual so that those who commit crimes and present risk to our communities are taken off the streets. I fully support this stance.

“Overcrowding in prisons is a national government issue so Wiltshire Police will continue in its delivery of a quality, frontline, policing service for all residents.”