A spokesperson insisted: “We will never jeopardise public safety. To manage offenders out on licence, we are rolling out the toughest-ever controls, including world-first restriction zones, the largest expansion of electronic tagging, and giving victims a say in licence conditions.”
Ministers also pointed to police funding rising to £18.5bn and record investment in the probation service.
The Met justified the shift by citing cases where enforcement yields little practical benefit.
“Where offenders have briefly stepped outside for a cigarette, or police are notified 19 hours later that they were 15 minutes late returning home, tying up several officers for hours is not the best use of resources,” a force spokesperson said.
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