Early prisoner release plan worries police chief

Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington was concerned about the extra demand his officers and staff could face

A senior police officer admitted he was worried about government plans to release prisoners from custody early.

Some inmates in England and Wales could be eligible for release after serving a third of their sentence under proposed reforms.

Ben-Julian Harrington, chief constable of Essex Police, said it would heap pressure on his officers and staff.

But the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it would increase annual probation funding by up to £700m by 2029 to meet demand.

The reforms, proposed in an independent sentencing review, said more offenders should be managed in the community rather than in prison.

Last year, thousands of inmates were released early in an emergency measure to deal with prison overcrowding.

About 3,000 offenders are managed in the community by Essex Police

Essex Police manages about 3,000 offenders, of whom 2,100 are registered sex offenders.

Mr Harrington told the BBC he was not sure how many prisoners could be released early in the county.

"When people are in the community, we've got to look after them," he said.

"Where they reoffend, where they break the law, where they ignore that opportunity and cause hurt, then we have to deal with it."

He added: "It does worry me because it puts extra demand on my officers and staff."

The police chief also feared the impact the plans could have on victims if a person was released and reoffended.

He said: "How do the victims of these crimes feel when someone who may have committed a violent crime and given three years in prison is released on parole, and then they breach that licence?

"If I was a victim of crime, I'd be worried about that."

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood ruled out allowing early release of the most serious offenders

The government commissioned the Independent Sentencing Review to look into the causes of the prison overcrowding crisis.

In the report released on 22 May, former Lord Chancellor David Gauke warned "we cannot build our way out of" the situation and creating extra prisons would not be enough.

A MoJ spokeswoman said: "The first job of any government is to keep people safe.

"That is why we are building prisons faster than at any time since the Victorian era and, through our sentencing reforms, we will make sure the public are never again put at risk of running out of prison places."

She said further investment in the Probation Service would help authorities tag and monitor "tens of thousands more" offenders.