Thousands of offences go unrecorded

POLICE are failing to record tens of thousands of crimes including rape, other sex offences and violent attacks, a watchdog warned last night.

It found almost one in four offences in Lincolnshire is not registered while over 94,500 crimes are not recorded in London every year – more than one in ten of all offences.

And in Humberside officers are failing to count 14,200 crimes annually, including one in five violent offences.

The HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said more than 110,000 calls are being ignored by the three forces, either through blunders or a lack of training. The total figure for England and Wales will be much higher as there are another 40 forces. The statistics were contained in three HMIC reports into the ‘integrity’ of crime data.

The watchdog condemned Lincolnshire Police as ‘inadequate’ after discovering 9,400 crimes a year are not recorded.

Shockingly, fewer than three-quarters of violent crimes were recorded, even when victims suffered debilitating injuries.

The watchdog said: ‘This means that on too many occasions, the force is failing victims of crime.’ Matt Parr, of HMIC, stressed: ‘Missing a crime off the books can have serious consequences. When a crime isn’t recorded, cases may not be investigated and victims can lose access to support services.’