Arrests fall 600,000 in less than a decade

Number held drops 50% since 2008 – but crime down just 15% Officers blame cuts as 20,000 police axed and stations closed ‘Proof some crooks now get off scot-free,’ says former top cop

THE number of police arrests has collapsed by 50 per cent in the past decade, raising fresh fears over the impact of massive budget cuts.

Data obtained by The Mail on Sunday from forces throughout the country show they made fewer than 700,000 arrests last year – half as many as in 2008.

Nationally the crime rate has fallen over the past decade, but by only 15 per cent – far less than the huge drop in the number of arrests.

It is feared the steep fall in the arrest rate is down to austerity measures that have seen 20,000 officer posts axed and dozens of stations and cells shut down.

This newspaper can also reveal that health and safety officials in some forces are considering the dramatic step of declaring that staffing levels have fallen dangerously low. The revelations will put Theresa May under renewed pressure over her record as Home Secretary.

She faced intense scrutiny during the Election campaign over her decision to axe nearly 20,000 police officers, with Jeremy Corbyn calling on her to resign in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack.

Last night, former Scotland Yard chief Lord Paddick, until l ast week the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, said: ‘These figures prove some criminals are getting away scot-free, when in the past they would have been arrested.’

Shadow Home Secretary Lyn Brown added: ‘These trends are very worrying, and reflect the massive decrease in police numbers across the country.’

Figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws from 30 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales show that th e y made 1,273,104 arrests in 2008. But by last year, the figure had fallen by 48 per cent to 658,113.

The steepest drop was in Hampshire, where the arrest rate fell by 63 per cent. Only one force, Kent, is taking more suspects into custody

Only Kent takes more into custody than before

now than ten years ago. Over the same period, the number of police officers has fallen from a nearrecord high of 141,861 to just 124,066 last year following recent 20 per cent budget cuts.

Calum Macleod, vice-chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents rankand-file officers, said: ‘With fewer people to do the job, this is bound to have a knock-on effect on the number of crimes solved and arrests made.’

Chief Constable Mike Barton, National Police Chiefs Council lead for crime, said: ‘The decline in the number of arrests reflects some key changes in policing. Firstly, total recorded crime has steadily fallen over the same period. At the same time, the criteria for police to arrest a suspect were strengthened in 2012 and so many suspect interviews now take place without having to place someone under arrest.’

Under health and safety regulations, Police Federation reps can issue ‘improvement notices’ t o chief constables if t hey y believe staffing levels are dangerously low. Jason Kwee, health and safety lead for the federaation, said: ‘They are a last resort... .. but where plans fail, and risks ks or breaches continue to exist, t, action to protect the safety of officers will and must be taken.’ ’