TIME TO DEVOLVE POLICE AND JUSTICE

It’s time to devolve control of Police and Justice to Wales as the powers are unsafe in the hands of any Westminster government and our communities will be put further at risk.  Back in 2017 Plaid Cymru called a vote on devolving policing during the passing of the Wales Bill through the Houses of Parliament. People should remember that given the choice of devolving Policing to Wales, the Conservatives voted it down and the Labour Party abstained - so much for standing up for our communities interests in Westminster.

It has to be unacceptable that Wales is the only nation in these islands without powers over its policing and justice policies – Northern Ireland, Scotland and even England do – but Wales doesn’t have control over Policing and Justice. Plaid Cymru is committed to the devolution of policing and justice to Wales to empower us to implement and pursue policies that serve the interests of our citizens and communities.

While Teresa May was perhaps too busy creating her hostile environment, Police numbers in Wales and England have been cut by some 19,704 police officers n since the Tories (and their eager Liberal Democrat’s coat holders) took office in 2010. Police budgets have been slashed, putting far fewer officers on the street. Welsh forces have been hit harder than those in the rest of the UK, due to an unfair funding formula. Between 2010 and 2018, the number of police officers in Wales decreased by 9%.

Plaid Cymru will recruit an extra 1,600 police officers – two for each community – to keep us safe. This would mean that our officers will be better rooted in our communities, instead of being stretched to cover large geographical areas with fewer resources. This would give the police the ability to focus on the priorities they need to keep us safe.

As argued by the Thomas Commission on Justice in Wales, we need to create integrated people-centred services – from prisons to counselling to housing – to undo the damage done by Cameron and May and to replace the present callous approach that prioritises targets over people’s needs. The extra police officers will help facilitate community engagement in which the police and the community can relay issues of mutual concern with targeted, community based problem-solving approaches to improve crime reduction and rehabilitation.