The Crime and Policing Bill, which is part of the Government’s ‘Safer Streets’ mission, is beginning its journey to becoming law. The Home Office has called the bill ‘one of the biggest legislative updates to crime and policing for decades’.
The Bill has a focus on lower-level offences such as theft, specifically theft of mobile phones, which has seen a 150% rise in the last year according to the Guardian. More than 200 phones are stolen every day in the UK, with criminals stealing thousands of pounds by accessing personal data and banking apps.
Under the new legislation, police will be able to search properties without a warrant where the location of the stolen good is visible through mobile signal, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or AirTag for example. This will enable the police to act within the ‘golden hour’ of such investigations and it tackles the previous frustration felt by victims who were able to see the location of their stolen device but could not retrieve it efficiently.
The Bill also includes ‘respect orders’ which will see people who regularly engage in antisocial behaviour face a ban from town centres. These orders allow courts to make perpetrators attend programmes such as treatment for addiction, or anger management courses, to change their behaviour. As well as this, new powers will be introduced to seize off-road motorbikes and vehicles being used anti socially.
There is also focus on violence against women and girls with a strengthening of Stalking Protection Orders and a new criminal offence to cover spiking, as well as barring registered sex offenders from changing their name.
The bill will scrap the £200 threshold which in effect provided immunity for low level shoplifting, previously called ‘ludicrous’ by the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper. Shop workers will also receive increased protection as assaulting a shop worker will become a separate offence. Figures from the Association of Convenience Stores recorded 5.6 million incidents of shoplifting in their 2024 report. The ACS chief executive James Lowman said they hope the bill ‘will send a clear message that shop theft and assaults on retailers will be taken seriously by both the police and the justice system.’
The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ‘the new Crime and Policing Bill is about taking back our streets and town centres, restoring respect for law and order, and giving the police and local communities the support and tools they need to tackle local crime’.
