Police fail to solve ANY burglaries in 3,000 areas
in nearly one in ten areas across the country, no one was brought to justice for raids on residential and commercial properties.
There were no break-ins solved in 3,105 of the 34,250 neighbourhoods in 2017, analysis of local crime figures from forces in england and Wales reveals.
The statistics are published by forces so the public can compare crime levels in their postcode and they suggest police are failing to tackle a surge in acquisitive crime.
The figures on data.police.uk, which is cross-referenced with Ministry of Justice files, provide a detailed record of every crime, and whether it has been solved and the offenders caught and convicted or given another penalty.
it is the first public police database to record the outcome of crimes after an offender has been charged. The data is broken down into 34,250 neighbourhoods with typical populations of about 1,600 people in each area across england and Wales.
in half of the 5,909 areas where more than 20 burglaries were reported last year, the culprits escaped punishment.
Residential areas in Manchester, Burnley, lancashire, Bristol, north london and leicester had some of the highest numbers of unsolved burglaries. in Bristol, there were more than 50 neighbourhoods with more than 20 burglaries each where no break-ins were solved.
Avon and Somerset constabulary announced last year that it had disbanded its burglary squads after funding cuts.
Andy Marsh, the chief constable, has warned the force is at ‘tipping point’ after making £65million of cuts since 2010.
Neighbourhoods in Salisbury, canterbury, cambridge, oxford and St Albans were also areas where no burglaries were solved.
Police forces across the country routinely ‘screen out’ tens of thousands of burglaries where they consider there is little chance of catching the perpetrator.
The Sunday Times analysis, which includes domestic and commercial break-ins, reveals that more than seven out of ten burglary investigations are completed without a suspect being identified.
Simon Kempton, of the Police Federation, said burglars were getting used to ‘never being stopped by police, never mind arrested’.
criminals now feel ‘empowered’ and officers have to routinely apologise to victims of crime for inadequate investigations, he added.
This month the Mail revealed that the number of unsolved burglaries has increased by a quarter in the last two years, with police closing the file on 203,703 domestic burglaries in the year to September 2017.
Dr elizabeth Yardley, professor of criminology at Birmingham city University, said: ‘We are sending out a message to criminals that burglary is not a priority. it gives them a green light to commit crime, safe in the knowledge that the chance of getting caught is minimal.’
‘Criminals now feel empowered’