Reform UK vows 30,000 officers and DEI ripped from policing

Reform UK has unveiled plans to recruit 30,000 police officers, scrap the College of Policing and ensure diversity, equality and inclusion policies are ripped out of British policing.

Launching the party’s S.A.F.E. plan on 19 October 2026, Reform policing and crime adviser Colin Sutton promised a crackdown on crime and antisocial behaviour, alongside an end to two-tier policing. “Every crime matters. Every indignity matters,” the former detective chief inspector, who brought serial killer Levi Bellfield and serial rapist Delroy Grant to justice, told the country in the Reform UK News statement.

The proposals include a major expansion of stop-and-search in crime hotspots, guaranteed foot patrols in areas plagued by antisocial behaviour, a ban on balaclavas and action against illegal e-bikes. Reform would restore short prison sentences, introduce fast-track courts for repeat offenders and create 12,000 prison places.

“We’re prioritising the safety of Brits with a massive expansion of stop-and-search powers and 30,000 more officers on the street,” Sutton set out. Under the plan, DEI modules would be removed from police training, race action plans forbidden and structures established solely to advance equality of outcome abolished.

“We will doggedly pursue equal enforcement; DEI will be ripped out of British policing,” he pledged. Britain needs police who chase thieves and thugs, not paperwork and lectures. Neighbourhoods have had enough of feeling abandoned while offenders walk free. Equal enforcement and visible patrols put the law-abiding first and restore order on the streets that people actually use.

Reform would also overhaul Prevent to focus on Islamist terrorism, requiring home searches when an individual receives referrals from three separate corroborating authorities. Sutton said the plan would tackle both serious violence and the everyday offending that leaves shopkeepers and families watching their backs.

Everyday crime meets real consequences

“It’s the same for the shopkeeper who reports a thief for the third time. He doesn’t need a lecture about the ‘root causes’ of criminality. He wants to know the thief won’t come back. He wants the thief caught and punished.” His message to law-abiding British people was clear: “No more having to watch your back. No more getting mugged off.”

The package ties officer numbers to practical tools: more stop-and-search where crime is worst, officers on foot where antisocial behaviour festers, and prison capacity so short sentences mean something again. Fast-track courts for repeat offenders aim to stop the revolving door that has left streets feeling lawless.

Scrapping the College of Policing and stripping out DEI training marks a clean break from policies that have distracted forces from core duties. Race action plans would be forbidden. The focus returns to catching criminals and protecting the public, not managing outcomes by identity.

What happens next rests on whether voters back the shift. Reform has set out the numbers, the bans and the enforcement rules in plain terms. The S.A.F.E. plan puts 30,000 extra officers, 12,000 prison places and equal enforcement on the table as the route to streets that feel safe again.

Original source: Reform UK News statement.