Operation Early Dawn activated to stop prison overcrowding

Transcript

00:00Prisons in the UK were already reaching breaking point and now the government has had to step in

00:04to take drastic action. After the riots around the country resulted in hundreds of people being

00:09sentenced, the whole system risks collapse. That's where Operation Early Dawn comes in.

00:15This is an emergency measure Keir Starmer's government has put in place to avoid prison

00:19overcrowding. It allows defendants waiting for a court appearance to be held in police cells

00:24until prison beds become available. However, it could mean court dates are delayed or adjourned

00:29at a short notice. The measure has been activated for the north of England and other parts of the

00:33country are expected to follow suit. Prosecutors have been trying to fast track cases of those

00:38involved in the recent UK riots, with over 900 people arrested and over 450 of those

00:43charged by last week. More than 100 people have already been sentenced, meaning in recent weeks

00:48prisons have experienced the biggest influx of new inmates it has seen for some time. According

00:53to the chairman of the Prison Officers Association, they saw 397 new receptions last week and only

00:59have 340 spaces left in the adult closed male estate. Some argue the move just pushes the issue

01:06further down the chain. It risks adding pressure to police forces as they could have less power

01:11to arrest people if there aren't the cells available to house them. This isn't the first

01:15time Operation Early Dawn has come into effect. It was last used in May by the previous government,

01:20again to try to ease overcrowding.