Police chief questions probing burglary if a window was left open
A POLICE chief was criticised yesterday for questioning whether some burglaries should even be investigated.
Assistant Chief Constable Phil Kay, of Leicestershire Police, asked whether officers should probe break-ins where a victim had left a window or door open. He compared victims of “preventable” crimes to NHS patients who are refused treatment because they are too fat.
Critics hit back, insisting victims “shouldn’t be made to feel as if it is their fault”.
Mr Kay said: “The NHS says ‘We are not going to operate on you because your body mass is too high – they have not helped themselves prevent an illness’.
“Yet if people leave doors or windows open there is an expectation the police will investigate.
“I’d rather my officers spent time preventing crime and protecting the public, rather than on things that are preventable.
“If the health service is making decisions on whether someone has helped to prevent something or not, should the police?
“I am not suggesting we have any plans to change what we do, but I pose that as a question.”
His comments come after Leicestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Lord Willy Bach suggested the force’s share of the council tax bill could be raised by 1.99 per cent for each of the next four years.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Of course people should take care to lock doors and windows but if they don’t, then the police shouldn’t treat a burglary as somehow less of a crime.
“Hard-pressed families pay handsomely for a dedicated police force. They shouldn’t be made to feel it is their fault if a crime is committed against them. Police should investigate all incidents reported, while providing advice on preventing crimes in the first place.”
The Rev Chris Taylor, a chaplain at Loughborough University, said: “I am deeply concerned a senior policeman thinks this sort of comment would mark him out as sensitive to the needs of a significant part of our community.
“It may make some young people and their parents re-evaluate the merits of coming to Loughborough, if they can’t rely on even-handed policing.
“How damaging would that be to our town’s economy?”
Resident Richard George said: “My taxes go towards paying for policing – is my right to have a burglary investigated invalidated because I’ve forgotten to close a window? You might expect that from an insurance company, not the police.”
Mr Kay said last night: “This line has been taken out of context. We investigate every burglary and have no plans not to investigate.”