The government has announced that His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has reactivated a contingency mechanism that will give the justice system greater oversight on the transfer of prisoners between the police, courts, and custody.
Operation Early Dawn will ensure that offenders are only summoned to a magistrates’ court when it has been confirmed that there is a cell in the prison estate available for if they were to be remanded into custody. Until then, they will be held in a police station.
This comes as hundreds more people entered the prison estate in the north of England in the aftermath of the recent protests. With this increase in people entering the prison system, longstanding capacity issues have been exacerbated, with many prisons operating at critical levels for a number of years.
By activating Operation Early Dawn, the government are hoping to manage the prison capacity in the short term, making sure that there is enough space to detain lawbreakers whilst a longer-term solution is found.
Lord Timpson, Prison and Probation Minister, said:
“We inherited a justice system in crisis and exposed to shocks. As a result, we have been forced into making difficult but necessary decisions to keep it operating.
“However, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff and partners, we have brought forward additional prison places and now introduced Operation Early Dawn to manage the pressure felt in some parts of the country.”
A number of measures have already been brought forward to increase prison capacity, including the construction of a new house block at HMP Stocken, the repurposing of HMP Cockham Wood, and speeding up maintenance work in other prisons.
The following areas are set to see capacity issues addressed by the implementation of Operation Early Dawn:
- North East and Yorkshire
- Cumbria and Lancashire
- Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire
Lead for Custody at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp, added:
“We are working closely with criminal justice system partners to manage demand in the system and ensure that the public are safe.
“Policing will continue to arrest anyone that they need to in order to keep the public safe, including policing protests and events and ensuring that people are arrested as expected.”
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