The head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has issued a serious warning over the government’s controversial plan to release certain dangerous offenders early, cautioning that cuts to police funding risk undermining efforts to tackle crime.
Sir Mark revealed that his force spent “massive resources” on Tuesday pursuing a teenager with a record of firearms and machete offences, who had been released on bail in London. The youth was linked to recent violent attacks and had breached his bail conditions, forcing officers to chase him across the capital.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday, Sir Mark criticised the government’s approach to prison overcrowding and sentencing, saying the policies were not properly aligned. He explained that while the government plans to release more offenders into communities — and increase spending on probation services — there had been no thorough analysis of the knock-on effects for policing.
“For a very long period, sentencing policy and prison building policy [haven’t been] aligned. Hence overcrowding, they’ve got to fix that,” he said. “But the solution they’ve come up with involves many, many more offenders being dealt with in communities rather than being in prison. That’s why they’re spending more money on probation. They’ve done no analysis on the impact on policing.”
Sir Mark highlighted the very real challenges faced on the ground. “Every morning I read a log on the way into work of what’s gone on in London in the last 24 hours. Yesterday, we were chasing round a teenager who’s been involved in machete attacks, who’s previously been arrested for firearms and machete offences. We sought his remand in custody. Even under the current system, he was eventually bailed. He skipped his bail on his tag, and we’ve had to put massive resources into chasing him around. He’s been caught with a machete again.”
The Met chief warned that releasing offenders into the community inevitably means some will reoffend, creating additional burdens for the police. “Every time you put an offender into the community, a proportion of them will commit crime, to be clear. The portion of them will need chasing down by the police.”
This warning comes amid concerns from six senior police chiefs, who wrote in Wednesday’s Times that without greater investment, the government will fail to meet its target of reducing crime. This statement followed reports that the Home Office may face budget cuts in the upcoming spending review.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently announced plans to release some serious offenders after serving just one-third of their sentences in a bid to ease overcrowded prisons. But housing minister Matthew Pennycook acknowledged the system is at breaking point, saying, “We can’t build our way out of prison capacity pressures in the short term.” He defended the policy as a necessary measure to prevent the collapse of the prison system.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to halve knife crime and deliver “safer streets” by recruiting thousands of new police officers. However, Sir Mark Rowley emphasised this goal will be impossible without significantly increased funding.
“Every year across the country, 5% more people are calling 999, looking for help from police,” he said. “That’s a massive number, and that compounds year on year. If I was to have in London today the resources to match the population that we had sort of 12–15 years ago, we [would have] the best part of a billion pounds more.”
More Read
Sir Mark also highlighted new and evolving threats that compound policing challenges. “We’ve got global instability. We’ve got communities that are more volatile. Look at the awful events that sparked across the country out of the attack in Southport last year. And we’ve got a government that’s really ambitious about what it wants policing to do.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce the government’s spending plans on June 11 in the upcoming spending review. A Home Office spokesperson insisted the government is committed to supporting the police, stating: “We are backing the police to protect our communities and keep our streets safe with up to £17.6 billion this year, an increase of up to £1.2 billion. This includes £200 million to kickstart putting 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and special constables that the public will see back on their streets and patrolling communities.”
Despite these assurances, police leaders remain concerned that without adequate funding and proper coordination between sentencing, prison policy, and policing, crime rates could rise and community safety be further compromised. Sir Mark Rowley’s stark warning adds weight to calls for a rethink on how public safety and criminal justice are managed in England’s largest city and beyond.
