Police are not recording fifth of reported crimes

One in five crimes reported to the police are not being recorded by officers, according to figures.

Rape and violence are among the thousands of offences not recorded by the police, a watchdog warned.

Inspectors who are reviewing crime data for every force in England found that at Thames Valley Police, one of the country’s largest forces, 35,200 crimes were not recorded per year. The force has been graded “inadequate” at recording crime by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, which found only about 80 per cent of crimes to be reported were recorded.