Not the first scandal for Kent Police
The damning report comes exactly four years after HMIC exposed a “target-driven culture” at the force which resulted in one in 10 crimes being inaccurately recorded.
Its June 2013 report into the way crime figures were compiled found an “institutional bias towards chasing numerical targets for solving crime”.
A quarter of “no-crimes” were wrongly classified, including rapes and robberies.
HMIC found officers were pursuing cases on the basis of how easy they were to solve rather than their seriousness, partly because detection rates at the time failed to distinguish between an open-and-shut case and a complex murder investigation.
There was evidence of officers seeking out cannabis users in order to issue formal warnings and of burglary specialists being redeployed to deal with shoplifting.
In total, 10% of the 303 cases reviewed were incorrectly classified.
Ann Barnes, the county’s crime commissioner at the time, expressed her anger for victims upon learning of the findings.
She said: “I’m staggered that 10% of crimes are not being correctly recorded and it is utterly unacceptable.
“I despair for some of the victims of crime who have been very poorly served, as every single victim of crime should receive a quality service.
“They must be at the heart of the policing service in Kent.”
She added: “I have every confidence that every single member of Kent Police will work positively to make sure that the people of Kent can, in the very near future, trust the force’s crime figures.”
She asked HMIC to return to the force six months later to reinvestigate and urged PCCs from across the country to commission similar reports.
Ian Learmonth, who was then Chief Constable of Kent Police, said: “I am pleased the report notes many areas of good practice and that HMIC supports the work we have already carried out to address the issues raised.
“I would like to reassure the people of Kent that we are fully committed to delivering a high quality service to victims of crime.”