Early release of prisoners ‘depressing to see’ says Fed chair

18 September 2024

West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke has described the early release of prisoners as ‘depressing to see’.

Around 1,700 offenders have been released from jails across England and Wales to alleviate overcrowding in the system.

Under the policy, some inmates were released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, instead of 50 per cent.

There were scenes of offenders being greeted with champagne outside some prison gates.

Rich said: “It’s very depressing to see.

“Criminals are already routinely released early anyway. A lot of them only do half the sentence and now they’re being released another 10 per cent earlier, so they’re only serving 40 per cent of their sentence.

“In my view, the people who go to prison currently, with few exceptions, are the worst of the worst, because there are many criminals who we see will have 20 to 30 convictions to their name and have never been to prison.

“As a country, we have been very selective about who we send to prison over the past decade or even longer.

“In the absolutely vast majority of cases they are deserving of being there and it’s about protecting the public.”

Potential impact

Rich expressed concern about the potential impact of the early release scheme on the morale of police officers, and also the potential impact on victims and their families.

“As police officers, we work tirelessly to investigate crime, to make arrests, and we then put the case together to go before the courts,” Rich said. “The work that goes in is enormous. It can be months and months, if not years, of work to get them where they need to be.

“So it’s a kick in the teeth for my colleagues and I to see prisoners released early because there aren't enough places.

“There’s also an impact on the victims and the families of the victims. There’s the perception of not having justice. Many will reoffend very quickly of that I have no doubt. It’s pernicious.”

Rich added: “We feel betrayed by those responsible because they have failed to build and create the prison spaces that are needed.”