On Monday, I spoke in the Second Reading of the Policing and Crime Bill. In the debate, I suggested the probation service should be included in the Bill’s sensible efforts to introduce collaboration into emergency services and the criminal justice system, and argued for the use of Child Abduction Warning Notices (CAWNs) to be extended to 16 and 17 year olds in line with their legal status as children and the fact that they are the group most likely to be targeted for sexual exploitation or involvement in criminal activity.
I also advocated adding a provision to the Bill to enable authorities to charge offenders for their compulsory sobriety tests. This would be cheaper for taxpayers and cost offenders far less than they would be spending on alcohol anyway. This intervention follows the London-wide roll out of the policy following the pilot I launched having brought the innovative policy to the UK from the US while serving as Deputy Mayor for Policing.
Policing and criminal justice are some my main focuses in Parliament and I will continue to work hard to ensure that innovative techniques and policies are used to improve policing, cut crime, and keep communities safe.