More than 50 new UK laws to be unveiled TODAY in major shake-up
The new laws are being brought in with the aim of 'taking back our town centres' as well as new measures on knife crime, stalking, spiking, shoplifting, AI, and protests
In a significant overhaul of the policing system, the Home Secretary today pledges to "take back our town centres from antisocial behaviour, thugs and thieves". Over 50 new laws aimed at combating crime will be introduced, including a provision that allows police to conduct warrantless searches of homes if technology indicates the presence of stolen items such as mobile phones.
The long-anticipated Crime and Policing Bill will also focus on curbing shoplifting and introduce new ASBO-style Respect Orders. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, announcing these measures, said: "We will never write off the crimes that make people scared to go out."
As part of the Government's initiative to combat violence against women and girls, spiking will be recognised as a specific crime, and anti-stalking laws will be reinforced.
The Bill will also introduce new legislation targeting gangs that exploit children, imposing penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for such offences. It will empower police to confiscate and destroy dangerous blades found on private property and permit officers to seize vehicles, including off-road bikes and e-scooters, without issuing a prior warning, reports the Mirror.
New laws presented to MPs today will also enable police to respond more swiftly to thefts of phones and items equipped with geo-technology tracking. These warrantless powers mean that police can raid premises where electronic mapping indicates the presence of stolen goods.
The Government claims this move will enhance the crucial "golden hour" in investigations and aid the recovery of stolen property. Ms Cooper highlighted the soaring rates of street theft, particularly targeting mobile phones, by organised gangs in urban areas.
She added: "But it is extremely frustrating for victims when they can see exactly where their stolen phone has gone but nothing is done. That is why we are determined to give the police the powers they need to move fast to crack down on these crimes that are blighting our communities."
It comes after alarming figures showed police received more than one million reports of antisocial behaviour in the year to September. Labour has promised new Respect Orders, similar to ASBOs, will give police and councils more power to ban thugs from town centres, and order them to comply with rehabilitation services.
Failure to do so will be a criminal offence. John Hayward-Cripps, head of Neighbourhood Watch, welcomed the new measures after years of neglect under the Tories.
He said: "The focus on addressing and reducing the epidemic of antisocial behaviour, theft, and shoplifting that we all witness in our town centres and communities will play an important role in increasing feelings of confidence in the police, and feeling safer in our local communities.
"The reduction in police funding over the last 15 years has been particularly felt in neighbourhood policing, resulting in low public confidence and crimes going unreported, due the perception that the police do not have the resources to investigate."
The wide-ranging Bill will treat violence against women and girls (VAWG) as the "national emergency" it is, the Home Office said last night. Police will have greater powers to release the identity of online stalkers to victims following a campaign by former Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp, who endured two years of harassment from a man she did not know.
The Government has vowed to halve VAWG within a decade. It has made the same pledge about knife crime after more than 55,000 cases were reported in England and Wales in 12 months.
Among the range of measures in the Bill are increased sentences for those who sell blades to under-18s, rising from six months to two years. Possessing a blade with intent to cause harm will carry jail terms of up to four years as the Government tries to tackle the deadly epidemic.
The Government will also tear up a Tory measure that means police are less likely to prosecute shop thefts worth under £200. Retailers have blamed it for an alarming rise in thefts, with nearly half a million reported in the year to September - up 23%.
The Bill also delivers on promises to tackle the use of AI to create explicit pictures and videos depicting children - and ban 'paedophile manuals' teaching sick abusers how to do this. it will also be a criminal offence not to report child sexual abuse.
Elsewhere the Bill, when passed,. will make it illegal to take or record intimate images or videos without a person's consent. A loophole which allows sex offenders to change their name will be closed.
Probation services will also have greater powers to carry out polygraph tests on sex offenders and terrorists.
Some of the key measures in the Bill include
Antisocial behaviour
New ASBO-style Respect Orders will allow police and councils to bar repeat offenders from town centres and get them into rehabilitation services. Failure to comply will be a criminal offence.
Cops will be able to seize vehicles, including off-road bikes and e-scooters, without warning.
Knife crime
Police will be able to seize and destroy deadly knives found on private property. The maximum penalty for selling them to under-18s will rise from six months to two years.
There will also be a new criminal offence of possessing a blade with the intent to cause harm, with a sentence of up to four years.
Retail crime
There will be a new offence of assaulting a shop worker. The Bill also removes a Tory loophole which treats retail theft of goods worth less than £200 a summary offence.
Businesses say this is fuelling a rise in cases and empowering organised shoplifting gangs.
Exploitation
A new offence of child criminal exploitation will be created to target gangs who recruit kids.
There will also be a new offence of cuckooing - taking over the home of a vulnerable person for criminal activities. The Bill also extends the current offence of exposure and creates a new child abduction offence.
Violence against women and girls
New offences will criminalise taking or recording of intimate images or videos without consent. There will be a new offence of spiking, while stalking protection orders will be strengthened.
Police will also have more powers to release the identity of online stalkers to victims.
Police powers
There will be no need for warrants to raid addresses where electronically tracked stolen items such as phones have been traced.
Police powers to manage registered sex offenders will be reformed, including the ability to change their name. Probation services will also be able to polygraph test criminals who have committed sexual or terrorism-motivated crimes.
Protests
Possession of fireworks, flares and other pyrotechnics will be banned at protests. There will also be a new offence criminalising climbing on specified war memorials. Face coverings at protests designated by police will be banned.