CRIMINAL!
Police fail to fully investigate card theft despite clear CCTV...why are they giving up on crimes that matter to YOU?
A FURIOUS crime victim last night slammed police after they failed to thoroughly investigate a theft despite having “crystal clear” CCTV revealing the suspect.
Father-of-two Graham Buck, 60, was left stunned by the police response after he had a mobile phone and a debit card stolen from his pocket during a night out.
He was told police would not waste time trying to trace the culprit because “he had not been arrested before” and they did not recognise him.
Mr Buck’s is the latest damning case to highlight how some forces are not investigating so-called low-level crime, blaming lack of manpower and resources.
The day after the theft, Mr Buck
discovered that before he had been able to cancel the stolen card it had been used to spend £200 via its contactless pay system. The self-employed builder went to police in Derby and was pleased to hear a few days later when an officer got back to him that they had managed to obtain “crystal clear” CCTV footage of the suspect using his card on the night it was taken But he was horrified when police later told him they would not be investigating further. A female officer said because the theft was not classed as a serious offence the force did not have the manpower to trace the man as “he had not been arrested before” and nobody in the station had recognised him. David Hines, founder of the National Victims’ Association, said last night: “Even though the incident in Derbyshire is a relatively minor one, it will still have had an impact on the victim. “The least they would expect would be for the police to make an effort to try and catch those responsible.” Shock recent figures show that just 11.6 per cent of all crimes were solved between 2016 and 2017. Frontline police numbers in England and Wales have fallen by 22,000 since 2010, according to the Police Federation of England and Wales. Police chiefs have admitted officers are no longer investigating low level offences like car crime and some assaults unless a suspect is already identified.
Simon Kempton, of the Police Federation, said: “Unfortunately we have sadly started to see that happen over the last couple of years and we are having to make some really difficult decisions about what we can do.”
Revealing his own experience Mr Buck – pickpocketed on December 9 last year when out at the Fever nightclub in Derby – blasted Derbyshire Police’s response as “disgusting”.
He said when he asked for a copy of the CCTV image so he himself could try and identify the thief, his request was refused.
In the light of Mr Buck’s complaints, Derbyshire Police last night said they were re-investigating the crime.
But Mr Buck said: “The police have all the information and want to do nothing about it.
Recalling his conversation with the female officer he said: “I was so upset when she said to me they would shelve it. She said ‘I’m sorry, we have not got the resources and it is not what we class as a serious offence. There is nothing we can do, we won’t be doing anything about it’.”
Mr Buck’s experience was similar to that of Izabela Siergiej, 38. West Mid-
lands Police declined to arrest a man suspected of stealing her mobile phone even though she gave them a possible name, address and even a mugshot.
Ms Siergiej got the evidence from an anti-theft app which snapped the man’s picture then sent an email with his location to her after she had been burgled.
Officers claimed the GPS was only accurate to a within 300 metres and said they could not start investigating for “at least a week”. So Ms Sergiej went to the GPS location herself and within minutes had obtained a man’s name from locals. Yet still police failed to act until newspaper reports of the incident prompted them to arrest a 54-yearold man for burglary and possession of a controlled substance yesterday.
Of the Buck case Inspector Lauren Woods of Derbyshire Police said yesterday: “This case underwent a full, thorough and detailed investigation.
“Although we reviewed in detail all the relevant CCTV footage, we were not able to identify a suspect. Had a suspect been identified, appropriate processes would have been followed. The experience of people who report crime is hugely important to us and we would welcome the opportunity to talk to Mr Buck.
“We are now revisiting this case in the light of Mr Buck’s concerns to establish whether lessons can be learned and whether a public appeal should now be issued.”
BRITAIN is in the grip of a rising crime wave. It is violence among street gangs, especially in the capital, that is fuelling particular concern but there is a growing fear that the police are just giving up further down the line.
The theft of Graham Buck’s phone and bank card is a case in point: the police had clear CCTV footage of the perpetrator yet didn’t follow it up. The hard fact is that if the police allow the public to think that they are simply not going to chase up milder criminal behaviour, that will foster an atmosphere in which more crimes take place.
Goodness knows, the police are hard pressed. They lack resources and there aren’t enough of them. And individual officers – hardworking and honest men and women – are certainly not to blame, not least as so much time is now taken up tackling gang crime rather than the offences that hurt the rest of us.
But the more senior members of the police staff must understand that they play a crucial role in a stable society and that, difficult as it may be, they must show that they are a force to be reckoned with and intent on keeping our streets safe. Graham Buck is far from alone in not having the crime against him taken seriously enough. The police must act.