Call to end police arrest targets

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The Police Federation annual conference in Blackpool will debate whether judging officers purely on how many arrests, cautions or on-the-spot fines they can deliver is making a mockery of the criminal justice system.

The federation said the drive to meet Whitehall performance targets was compelling officers to criminalise middle England.

The organisation published a dossier of ridiculous cases they claimed resulted from Home Office targets placed on beat bobbies.

The cases included a Cheshire man who was cautioned by police for being "found in possession of an egg with intent to throw", and a child in Kent who removed a slice of cucumber from a tuna mayonnaise sandwich and threw it at another youngster and was arrested because the other child's parents claimed it was an assault.

A spokesman for the federation, which represents 130,000 rank-and-file officers in England and Wales, said the power to use discretion should be returned to the bobby on the beat.

"We have got into the situation where everyone is so busy chasing targets and securing ticks in boxes we are on the verge of distancing ourselves from middle England," he said.