Federation reaction to lack of prison cells

28 May 2008

Responding to the Prison Officer Association's concerns that some criminals may be going free because of insufficient prison places to house them, Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales said:

Responding to the Prison Officer Association’s concerns that some criminals may be going free because of insufficient prison places to house them, Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales said:

"The Police Federation has long warned that with a rising criminal population and more arrests being made by police, more prisons are needed. The simple fact is that if prison overcrowding is resulting in sentences being cut even further than they already are, then the Criminal Justice System is failing victims of crime and further demoralising frontline officers who see those they have brought to justice out again before the paperwork is even completed.

"The safety of the public is paramount and it is essential that those convicted of crime serve their full sentences. Rest assured, police officers will continue to arrest and charge those they consider a danger to society. We will not, as has been suggested, limit the execution of warrants and arrests to suit a political agenda that wishes to do anything to ease the burden on overcrowded prisons."

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