Releasing prisoners early is 'least worst option' - Met Commissionerpublished at 11:07 British Summer Time 12 July
![Metropolitan Police officer outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/640/cpsprodpb/vivo/live/images/2024/7/12/ee17cb75-b434-4c7b-8879-6780527181e3.jpg.webp)
The government's expected plans to release some inmates early to address prison overcrowding in England and Wales is "the least worst option", according to the Met Police Commissioner.
Sir Mark Rowley tells ITV's Good Morning Britain there's no "easy solution" and prisons are "very, very close to full and filling up day in day out".
He adds the "worst" scenario would be for the prison system to "block" because "that kicks back into the courts and into what we do and that's really dangerous for the public".
He says the government is "forced into making a rapid decision to avoid that risk".