Now the Met ignores 9,000 more crimes every month

THE country’s largest police force has responded to a 7.5 per cent surge in crime by looking into fewer cases.

Data shows the Metropolitan Police is giving up on 9,000 cases a month. Last September the force said it would stop investigating some low-level cases such as burglary.

As a result, thousands of crimes are going unexamined.

There were 37,370 fewer cases investigated between September and December last year when compared with the same period in 2016, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Sun.

Just 33 per cent of burglaries were followed through with a proper investigation – down 51 per cent on the previous year.

Mick Neville, a former Met detective chief inspector, said his former force was ‘waving the white flag at crimes’.

Under the new system, crimes involving a loss of under £50, minor assaults and car crime are only investigated if a suspect is already identified, and burglaries only if the criminal used violence or deceit.

Met deputy assistant commissioner Mark Simmons said it had ‘to balance the books with fewer officers and less money’.