Andy Cooke, who took the senior professional police adviser role last month, said chief constables should avoid “politics with a small ‘p'” and remember there is a clear distinction between what is and is not a crime.
Former Merseyside Police Chief Cooke has held some of the highest-risk portfolios in policing and was the national policing lead for serious organised crime and national lead for crime.
Cooke’s HM chief inspector of constabulary role includes overseeing the assessment of forces and making recommendations for improvement.
“We’re not the thought police, we follow legislation and we follow the law, simple as that,” he told The Times of London on May 15, referencing the term coined by George Orwell in his 1949 dystopian novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
Police forces have come under criticism in the past few years for policing people’s views.
“Policing is busy enough dealing with the serious offences that are going on, busy enough trying to keep people safe,” said Cooke.
He added that policing should also stay away from politics.
“I do think it’s important that the prioritisation that we give is to those most at risk, and that policing stays away from the politics with a small ‘p,' and the different thoughts that people have,” he said.
“Those thoughts, unless they become actions, aren’t an offence. The law is quite clear in relation to what is an offence and what isn’t an offence.”
Cooke said the public wanted to know that when crimes were being committed, the police would take action however serious the offence.
“Policing needs to ensure the public can have confidence that the police will take action against criminality, whatever level that is,” he said.
“Obviously the serious criminality needs to be addressed. But right through neighbourhood crimes, burglaries, and car theft as well,” added Cooke.
