Yard savaged as it fails to log 69,000 offences a year
BRITAIN’S biggest police force is failing to record thousands of crimes of stalking, domestic abuse and anti-social behaviour – responding to just one in 21 calls in some areas.
The police watchdog raised ‘serious concerns’ about the Metropolitan Police’s performance after the force failed in six out of nine areas of work, with the blunders resulting in offenders evading justice.
Just days after Sir Mark Rowley took over as Commissioner, His
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has demanded that Scotland Yard make urgent improvements.
The report found that more than 69,100 offences a year were going unrecorded, with victims of domestic violence or those suffering longterm abuse such as stalking, controlling and coercive behaviour or harassment being ignored.
Not all reports of rape were correctly recorded and in some cases it was taking more than three days for crimes to be logged – leading to delays in rape investigations and victims receiving support.
Inspectors believe the force turns a blind eye to many incidents of anti-social behaviour, with just one out of the 21 calls from victims leading to a crime being logged.
The force, which was put into special measures three months ago, was labelled ‘inadequate’ in the way it responds to the public, with call handlers unable to answer 999 calls quickly enough, and failures to identify vulnerable or repeat victims.
It also missed ‘opportunities to preserve evidence which may help investigations’.
Shoddy investigations by inexperienced detectives also let criminals off the hook, the inspectors found.
Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr warned: ‘ Until the force improves how it responds to incidents and increases the capability and supervision of its investigators, it will not be able to sustainably reduce crime.’
Dame Lynne Owens, Met Deputy Commissioner, said: ‘We want to remove as many hurdles as possible to make it easier for hardworking officers to fight crime, deliver justice and support victims.’
‘Let criminals off the hook’