Police abandon ‘low-level’ crime inquiries
EVERY police force in Britain is abandoning inquiries into thousands of lowlevel offences.
Call handlers are crossing off offences including vandalism, theft, burglary and antisocial behaviour in minutes if there are no clues. Victims can expect little or no investigation, or a visit from an officer, unless they can supply evidence or name a suspect.
Chief constables admit the ‘tough decisions’ they are making on which criminals are worth chasing could be unpalatable for taxpayers.
But one senior leader said they needed to come clean about the full impact of shrink- ing budgets. The worrying trend was revealed after the Metropolitan Police, the country’s biggest force, brought in guidelines meaning it will no longer probe many offences.
Officers have been told that they no longer have to investigate low-level incidents of grievous bodily harm or car crime unless the victim identifies a suspect.
Crimes with a loss of less than £50 are also unlikely to be investigated as are burglaries unless there is evidence of violence or fraud to gain entry. Officers will also analyse CCTV only if the footage is clear and the crime appears within a 20-minute window.
The changes are part of a £400million costcutting drive that will see around 150,000 fewer crimes investigated every year.
Ken Marsh, who leads the frontline Metropolitan Police Federation, said: ‘It’s not just the Met, it is the whole country doing this.
‘It is down to the scale of the cuts forces face. We must explain to the public why we are in this position. It is unfair on the public and we think that every crime should be looked at. Just because an offence is minor does not mean it should be disregarded.’
Each chief constable designates which crimes officers must always investigate and which are a priority.
National guidelines say that unless crimes are listed as mandatory or a priority they will not be investigated without a clear likelihood of detection. Many forces have a crime assessment policy that sets out how reports will be closed almost immediately if there are ‘no viable lines of inquiry’.
Calum Macleod, vice chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: ‘This is far from a shock revelation and not specific to one force.
‘The reality of pressures placed on policing means something has to give.’