PEOPLE who commit offences are no longer always being arrested, Salisbury’s police inspector has said.

Inspector Pete Sparrow says the lack of police officers and new ways of working mean only people at risk of running away, causing violence or causing further offences will be arrested.

Instead people are being “invited” to the police station or in the case of a suspected shoplifter, for example, being interviewed there and then.

Speaking at a recent Salisbury Area Board meeting, Insp Sparrow said: “We can’t afford with the numbers we have to arrest everyone, it’s not that you can’t find people, interview them or investigate offences, it’s whether it’s appropriate to arrest somebody.

“The people that you need to arrest are the people that need to be taken off the streets to protect the public.

“There’s no custody facility at Bourne Hill. Policing has changed, the new ways of working make that very clear.

“It also comes within law – the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) Code D talks about the necessity to arrest somebody.

“You have to justify why it’s necessary, not just because they’ve committed an offence. You could have a shoplifter and you could interview them in a room at the store, if that’s appropriate, or you could ask somebody to come back to the police station under an invite.”

Where an arrest is justified, the custody unit in either Melksham or Swindon is used, he said.

“It would be nicer if they were closer but they’re not,” Insp Sparrow said. “We have employed prisoner transport teams.

“The reality is the custody units are rarely working at capacity.

“PACE has had a massive impact so even in those towns where they have custody units, they’re not filling the cells because that is the way we work.”