BACKING has been given to calls that police officers be handed the power to charge suspects to speed up justice.

Earlier this week the chief constables of three forces, including West Yorkshire said that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should be stripped of the decision-making on charging a suspect – and that this power should be given back to the police in most cases.

They said the CPS, which has been hit by funding cuts, should concentrate only on the most serious cases.

That would mean police officers would decide whether to charge suspects for crimes such as domestic abuse, harassment, burglary, robbery, theft, knife crime, and violent crime.

Now the chairmen of the corresponding police federations, including West Yorkshire, are backing this call.

West Yorkshire Police Federation chair Craig Nicholls described removing some charging decisions from the CPS and handing them back to the police service was an “inevitable step” due to funding cuts.

He added: “It is an unwanted necessity that policing take back charging decisions because of the lack of funding within CPS.

“This is an inevitable step that the police must take to reduce waiting times for simple decisions to be made.

“And this is yet another system that is broken at the hands of the current Government and is causing officers undue stress and concern on their workloads.”

The three chief constables, including West Yorkshire’s John Robins told The Guardian newspaper earlier this week: “The director of public prosecutions needs to give the right back to the police to make charging decisions there and then in far more cases: domestic abuse, harassment, burglary, robbery, theft, knife crime, violent crime.

“We used to do this, officers want it, victims want it, defence lawyers want it, and we are sure the courts do too, but the system keeps saying no. We are trying to help free up CPS and partner agency work to do what they should be doing – prosecuting, not administration.”

They added: “Where is the evidence to support our call? In March 2015, 16 per cent of crimes were resolved with a charge and/or summons and now it is 5.6 per cent.

“This is not because police have suddenly become less effective. It is because of so-called ‘attrition’ where victim disengagement occurs and results in fewer charges due to time delays and a feeling of being unsupported by a seemingly faceless and insensitive system.”

The T&A contacted the Ministry of Justice, The Home Office and the CPS for comment.