This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Change the the remit of police to be about the prevention and solving of crime.
Change the the remit of police to be solely about the prevention and solving of crime. Police spend far too often doing health and social work roles, such as dealing with mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse.
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Demand for non crime related calls meant officers were unable to do the job they signed up for. They are often heard to be 'supporting families'. They cannot do all of these things - and should not be doing them. They should only work on crime related activities. One police force spent more than 50,000 hours last year dealing with mental health related calls. The police have become the catch-all first and last resort for anything and everything.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
The powers granted to the police allow them to investigate and prevent crimes, and to 'dispose' of criminal cases. How the police choose to exercise those powers is an operational decision for them, not the UK Government or House of Commons. It's therefore not clear what it is you'd like the Government to do.
You can find out more about this here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8637/ and here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-powers-and-procedures-in-england-and-wales-201112-user-guide/user-guide-to-police-powers-and-procedures#arrests-1
You could have a petition calling for the Government to provide increased funding to social services, to reduce the demand on police resources, if that is something you'd like to see happen.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.