Crime and Policing Bill Receives Royal Assent

Responding to the Crime and Policing Act receiving Royal Assent, Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the BRC, said:

“The new Crime and Policing Act is a long-overdue turning point in the fight against retail crime. With 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse every single day and  5.5 million thefts a year, the extraordinary levels of retail crime cannot be accepted as simply part of the job.

“The BRC, alongside others, have campaigned relentlessly for these changes. Stronger laws on assault and theft will send a clear warning to would-be offenders, but laws alone won’t keep retail workers safe. What matters now is consistent, visible police enforcement so colleagues can genuinely feel safe and protected at work.

“Implementation must be swift: the police need to use the full extent of these powers, while stepping up their presence in stores, so that anyone assaulting our colleagues or stealing from stores faces the full force of the law.”

Biggest shake up in decades to tackle local crime

Details of the Crime and Policing Bill follow:

Biggest crime-fighting shake up in decades as police gain new powers to tackle local crime as the landmark Crime and Policing Bill receives Royal Assent.

Community policing will finally have the powers it needs to effectively tackle local issues as the landmark Crime and Policing Act becomes law.

For too long, community policing has been continuously downgraded, lacking the resources and powers it needs to properly protect the communities it serves.

Today, the government has delivered a series of vital measures to tackle the whole spectrum of criminality.

New powers for police and the wider criminal justice system will help realise this government’s mission to restore confidence in policing and to tackle the epidemic of serious violence and violence against women and girls.

Minister for Crime and Policing Sarah Jones said:

This is the biggest overhaul of our crime‑fighting powers in a generation. It puts policing back on the side of the public and gives officers the tools they need to tackle the problems people see on their streets every day.

From banning repeat offenders from town centres and protecting shop workers, to cracking down on exploitative gangs and strengthening victims’ rights, this Bill is about restoring order and rebuilding confidence.

Our message is clear: If you spread fear, exploit the vulnerable or fuel violence, the law will catch up with you.

The Crime and Policing Act has over 70 measures including tougher police powers to crackdown on antisocial behaviour and retail crime by:

• introducing respect orders to enable the police to ban repeat offenders from town centres and other locations
• removing the requirement for police to issue a prior warning before seizing any vehicle used in an anti-social manner
• ending the outdated treatment of theft under the value of £200 as a summary-only offence so perpetrators can be punished properly
• introducing a bespoke offence for assaulting a retail worker with a possible sentence of six months in prison

These new measures will be underpinned by the government’s neighbourhood policing guarantee to deliver an additional 13,000 neighbourhood officers by the end of this parliament.

To tackle the epidemic of online stalking and to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm:

• helping police manage online stalkers and protect victims through new ‘Right to Know’ guidance on disclosing the identity of an online stalker to victims at the earliest opportunity
• more powers for courts to impose stalking protection orders directly when a defendant is convicted or acquitted, to keep perpetrators away from victims and prevent further harm
• there will be a standalone offence of child criminal exploitation with a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and accompanying orders which will allow courts to intervene early to prevent children from being harmed
• the act introduces a new criminal offence of cuckooing (home takeover for illegal activity) with a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment
• it is also introducing a new offence for internal concealment of drugs and other specified items including forcing individuals to hide items inside their bodies

The act has also introduced further laws around the sale of knives online as the government aims to halve knife crime in a decade:

• tech bosses will have personal criminal liability for failing to act on illegal knife and weapons content on their platforms resulting in a total fine of up to £70,000 for each offence
• there will be a mandatory two-step verification for online knife purchases at both point of sale and delivery using photographic ID
• retailers are legally required to report any bulk purchases of bladed articles made online, to tackle organised crime
• there is a new offence of possession of a knife with intent to cause unlawful violence with a sentence of up to seven years in prison

This government has already delivered over 3,000 neighbourhood officers, launched a national centre for tackling knife crime and deployed the largest crackdown on violence against women and girls in British history.

With the Crime and Policing Act now law, those efforts will go further and faster, delivering safer streets and stronger communities across England and Wales.

Source : BRC; Gov.uk

Image : Eddie Jordan / shutterstock / 1743926996

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