Police ‘never recorded 7,300 crimes’
NORTHUMBRIA FORCE TOLD IT MUST IMPROVE
Northumbria Police have been told it must improve after new figures show more than 7,300 crimes reported last year – including violence and rape – were never even recorded.
Figures published today by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) show major gaps remain in the force’s crime recording practices.
The statistics show about 93% of crimes reported are recorded by Northumbria Police.
HMIC previously inspected the accuracy of crime recording in the force 2014.
The inspectorate looked at how effective the force is at recording reported crime, along with the efficiency of crime recording systems and processes.
Inspectors also examined leadership and culture necessary to meet the national standards for crime-recording, and based on the criteria have judged North- umbria Police as “requires improvement”.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Mike Cunningham said: “While we found that Northumbria Police had made progress since our inspection in 2014, I have concerns that gaps remain in the force’s crime-recording arrangements, particularly in respect of the recording of some serious offences.
“Although the force records around 93% of the crime reports it receives, there are still too many reports of crime not being dealt with properly.
“We estimate that it fails to record 7,300 crimes each year, including serious offences such as violence and sexual offences including rape.
“These failings are due to a combination of factors.
“Firstly, the processes within the force are deficient, which leads to errors in how crimes are recorded.
“Secondly, we found that supervisors do not have the capacity to properly scrutinise incidents, so some crimes are being missed.”
Northumbria Police Deputy Chief Constable Winton Keenan said: “Northumbria Police takes the accurate recording of crime very seriously and it is reassuring to see that this has been recognised by the HMIC in their inspection.
“Despite the improvements we have made, we recognise there is still more work to be done, and this too has been highlighted by HMIC.
“In keeping with the findings in this report, we are already working on further improvements to our systems and processes so that we can ensure that we get it right first time.
“These further improvements are intended to take us to the highest levels of compliance with the national standards for crime recording.”
“We estimate that it fails to record 7,300 crimes each year” MIKE CUNNINGHAM