Police solve just 3% of burglaries

Damning figures reveal vast majority of all crime investigations end without conviction

POLICE are solving fewer than 5 per cent of robberies and burglaries, shocking statistics reveal.

For violent and sexual offences, the detection rate was just 8 per cent - meaning the overwhelming majority of culprits get away scot-free.

In total, only 9 per cent of the 4.7million crimes committed last year in England Wales ended with someone caught and punished – half the level of five years ago, according to national police data.

The revelation will further harm public faith in the police at a time when officers have come under fire for failing to attend the scene of many crimes.

The damning fall in detection rates has been blamed on fewer traditional bobbies on the beat. Since 2009, the number of police and PCSOs has plunged from 160,000 to 132,000.

Forces that have some of the highest detection rates, such as Durham Con- stabulary, insist having ‘ boots on the ground’ plays a crucial role in solving crime. In December, it was reported more than half the residents in some areas have not seen a police officer patrolling their streets in the past year.

Former Home Office adviser David Green, of the Civitas think-tank, blamed government cuts for poor detection rates. He said: ‘It has been a terrible mistake nationally to chop all those officers.

‘It has made it impossible to carry out neighbourhood policing. These figures appear to show a link between visible policing and solving crimes. If you have officers who know an area, who visit day in day out, they learn who is committing the burglaries and robberies.’

Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey said: ‘ These shocking statistics are the consequences of the decision to keep cutting police budgets three years ago when it became clear crime was on the rise.’

An analysis by the Sunday Times of crime in England and Wales revealed the proportion solved fell from 19 per cent in 2013 to 9 per cent last year.

The figures are in line with the Home Office’s published outcomes of criminal investigations by all 43 English and Welsh forces and the British Transport Police, which found only 9.1 per cent end in a charge or summons.

Police data, which is matched against Ministry of Justice court results, showed that out of 436,949 burglaries last year, 12,901 – 3 per cent – have been solved, compared to 6 per cent in 2013. Of 73,378 robberies last year, only 3,033 were detected – just 4 per cent. This is down from 9 per cent five years ago.

And there were 1,465,790 violent and sexual offences, with 121,945 ( 8 per cent) being solved, compared to 24 per cent in 2013.

The Metropolitan Police, Britain’s largest force, said it was ‘ doing all it can’ to bring criminals to justice. A spokesman said identifying burglars ‘ presents particular challenges’ and that ‘a number of robbery offences can be attributed to scooter-related crime’, adding: ‘ The Met has been putting a huge amount of effort into stemming the rise in these offences and bringing offenders to justice.’

Last month it was revealed that forces were abandoning inquiries into thousands of crimes without even sending an officer to see the victim.

Chief constables have set up ‘telephone investigation’ teams which cross off up to 900 reported offences every day.

These include cases of vandalism, burglary and theft if there are no clues or victims cannot name a suspect. One force aims to close down more than half the calls it receives from people reporting a crime – denying victims a full probe.

Chief constable Bill Skelly, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s spokesman on crime recording and statistics, said there had been improvements in how forces record crimes, which include those with ‘no suspect and little prospect of a criminal justice outcome’.

The Home Office stressed the figures could change if investigations are reopened to assess new evidence. It said police funding was increasing by up to £460million in 2018-19.

A spokesman said: ‘It is the responsibility of chief constables and police and crime commissioners to make sure that criminal cases are investigated properly.’

‘Budgets that keep being cut’