Watchdog: Force fails to record 16,600 violent crimes a year

ONE OF England’s biggest police forces is failing to record more than 16,600 violent crimes each year, a watchdog has claimed.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) rated West Midlands Police as “inadequate” for the way it records violent crime and sexual offences.

It found that 78.2 per cent of violent crime and 89.2 per cent of sexual offences reported to the force were recorded.

The report said: “The recording rates for violent crime and sexual offences remain a cause of concern. Too often the force is still failing victims of crime, including domestic abuse victims.”

It went on: “By our estimate the force is now failing to record over 16,600 violent crimes that are reported to it each year.

“As violent crime can be particularly distressing for the victim, and many of these crimes involve injury, the recording rate remains unacceptable and must be urgently addressed.”

Inspectors were not able to look at other types of crime because the force is updating its systems.

Bosses at West Midlands Police hit back at the findings, with Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe claiming the watchdog had failed to recognise the force’s strengths in recording crime overall.

She said: “It is frustrating that, despite substantial progress, our grading has remained as inadequate.” SADIQ KHAN: London Mayor blamed fall in number of detectives in Met on cuts to police funding.

The news comes as it was revealed Scotland Yard’s murder investigation unit has lost a quarter of its officers and staff over the past decade, the Press Association has found.

Last year there were 315 fewer police and civilians working in the Metropolitan Police’s homicide and major crime command (HMCC) than in 2008, figures released under freedom of information laws reveal.

The unit’s overall strength decreased by 26 per cent over the 10-year period.

Meanwhile, the number of major investigation teams (MITs) dropped from 26 to 18.

The Met said: “The Metropolitan Police Service frequently adjusts resources to respond to violence in London.”

However, London Mayor Sadiq Khan blamed the fall in the number of detectives on a shortfall in police funding.

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