By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
The early release of around 40 prisoners in Nottinghamshire last week was “handled effectively”, the county’s police commissioner has insisted.
Around 1,750 prisoners who had served at least 40 per cent of their sentence were released nationally to ease overcrowding in prisoners.
Champagne was seen being popped outside HMP Nottingham as former inmates celebrated their freedom.
Around 40 were let out from prisons in Nottinghamshire, Police and Crime Commissioner Gary Godden (Lab) confirmed on Monday (September 16).
He told the county’s Police and Crime Panel: “I have been reassured this was handled effectively, with agencies given sufficient notice.
“Prison capacity is still very high and another tranche coming our way.
“Former prisoners will be managed and monitored over their licence conditions. We want to give Nottinghamshire confidence this is being done properly.”
The government says the prison system is at “crisis point” and was nearly full before last week’s programme, although a probation union has said some sex offenders are being let out too early.
Mr Godden also predicted an increase in police officers will lead to a drop in anti-social behaviour across Nottinghamshire within six months.
A total of 187 officers will be redeployed to neighbourhood policing roles from October in an attempt to tackle local issues, and won’t be taken away to police football matches or nightlife.
Of these 105 constables will be in high-visibility neighbourhood roles, and 72 constables and 10 inspectors will be tasked with response policing roles.
The shift in focus began under previous Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry (Con), and is being continued under Mr Godden, who was elected in May.
“I was a serving police officer for 15 years, and I know how important neighbourhood policing is,” he told the panel.
He responded to complaints from councillors about low-level crime in their districts, saying: “We will see a drop in anti-social behaviour across Nottinghamshire.
“There will be local officers dealing with local solutions. They can link up with CCTV and identify problem individuals.
“I have confidence you’ll see the difference in six months’ time.”
He promised officers wouldn’t be ‘abstracted’ – taken out for other duties like football matches – unless it was a major incident, such as this summer’s civil unrest.
“If this doesn’t happen, I will hold the Chief Constable to account,” he said.
