Police shelve more than 8 out of 10 domestic burglaries

Decision to end inquiries are not taken lightly say police

LEICESTERSHIRE Police are shelving thousands of investigations - more than 80 per cent for some crimes - because efforts to trace suspects have led nowhere.

Home Office figures for the 12 months to March this year show the force closed inquiries without identifying a suspect in 84 per cent of house burglaries, 70 per cent of vehicle thefts and 63 per cent of shoplifting cases.

The decisions to end inquiries were reached in the absence of evidence such as witness statements, CCTV footage or forensic clues.

A senior detective said the decisions were never “taken lightly”.

Cases are reopened if fresh information comes to light, the force said.

Earlier this year, Leicestershire Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, warned that the smaller force was struggling to cope with rising crime levels .

The force has made budget savings and cuts of more than £38 million and lost more than 500 officers since 2009.

Now, fewer than 1,800 officers police the city and county, whereas at its height, the force employed more than 2,300 officers.

The 44 forces of England and Wales logged 106,334 reports of vehicle theft in 2017/18, the highest tally for an equivalent period since 2009/10, according to research by the Press Association.

On average, no suspects were identified in 77 per cent of cases.

Nationally, the number of recorded shoplifting offences was 382,100 - the highest for a year since new recording practices were introduced in 2002. Suspects were not identified in 47 per cent of investigations.

Across all forces, 81 per cent of the 249,235 recorded residential burglaries were closed without a suspect being identified.

Commenting on the national picture, Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs committee, said: “Too many investigations are closing without suspects being identified and we are hearing increasing reports of the police being too overstretched to investigate.

“Police forces are under immense pressure and these figures suggest that investigations into volume crimes are now being hit. Failing to identify suspects gives criminals a green light to reoffend.”

Alex Mayes, of charity Victim Support, said: “News like this could undermine confidence in the criminal justice system and prevent people reporting in the future.”

RAC Insurance spokesman Simon Williams said: “The fact fewer suspects are being identified is very worrying and no doubt a symptom of the declining number of police officers and the resulting reduction in time that can be dedicated to investigating these crimes.”

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Baker, of Leicestershire Police, said: “Each and every report of crime is reviewed by an investigator and an assessment made of the harm caused to the victim, the risk of further offending and threat posed by an offender in order to focus our resources appropriately and proportionately.

“The decision to classify a crime with the outcome of ‘no suspect identified’ is not taken lightly and is only reached after an assessment is made of proportionate lines of enquiry based on objective solvability factors, the individual circumstances of the victim and the motivation for the offending.

“Leicestershire Police has a state-of-the-art crime and intelligence system which is capable of searching across hundreds of thousands of similar crimes from across the East Midlands to look for clues.

“Significant focus is then given to working with a range of partner agencies and the communities to prevent and design out opportunities for crime to be committed.”

Deputy Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for acquisitive crime, said increased demand and fewer officer numbers have led to forces prioritising cases with a realistic prospect of prosecution.

She added: “Police investigate all cases of theft, burglary and shoplifting. Particularly for these types of offences, police focus on targeting prolific offenders, organised crime networks, and ensuring prevention measures by homeowners and businesses are in place.”