Theresa May accuses police chiefs of encouraging red tape
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The tug-of-war over the future of British policing continued yesterday as the Home Secretary attacked police chiefs for failing to join her war on red tape.
Theresa May accused chief constables of being occupied with hitting targets rather than fighting crime. She said the Government "really means business" in its crackdown on bureaucracy, but certain chiefs were hampering efforts by ignoring central policy.
Ms May told the Association of Chief Police Officers' annual conference in Harrogate: "Here's the problem. Not all of you are following my lead. Some of you are still setting your forces targets that we've scrapped nationally."
Graeme Maxwell, chief constable of North Yorkshire Police, accused her of focusing too much on a single issue. Branding the criticism "misguided", he said: "If the Home Secretary has set the objective to reduce crime, yes we'll get on with that, but actually crime for me needs also to take into account a wealth of other objectives."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments