Families ‘living in fear’ as arrest levels tumble

Campaigners warn that families no longer feel safe in their homes as theft arrests fall by a quarter

Victims’ rights campaigners said many families no longer felt safe in their own homes after an “appalling” drop in arrest rates for offences including burglary. The comments came as Home Office figures revealed the number of arrests in England and Wales had halved in the past decade, with theft arrests falling by more than a quarter in two years. Meanwhile, police chiefs said a lack of resources threatened their ability to “prevent crime and protect the public”.

POLICE have been accused of leaving families to “fend for themselves” as figures showed the number of theft arrests had dropped by more than a quarter.

Home Office figures revealed a sharp fall in the number of suspects held for offences including burglary, despite a rise in reports of violent crime. Overall, the number of arrests in England and Wales has halved in the past decade.

Victims campaigners last night described the figures as “appalling”, and suggested many families no longer felt safe in their homes.

Police leaders warned that a lack of resources threatened their ability to “prevent crime and protect the public”.

The Home Office data – from all but one of 43 forces – showed officers arrested 698,737 people in the year to March, compared with 1,427,387 in 2007/08. Arrests for theft including household burglary fell from 190,019 in 2015/16 to 139,447 in 2017/18 – a drop of 26per cent in two years. It means fewer than one in 25 reports of theft now result in an arrest.

The number of motorists caught speeding, however, is at a record high, with more than two million offences recorded last year. It comes as police are recording rising numbers of crimes across a number of categories including violent offences, knife crime and sexual offences.

Data released last week showed forces registered 5.6million crimes in the 12 months to June – the highest total since the year ending March 2005.

“These are appalling statistics,” said Harry Fletcher, the director of the Victims’ Rights Campaign. “Victims are already complaining that the reaction time for burglaries is quite often hours, if not days. Families are effectively being left to fend for themselves in their own homes, unprotected by law enforcement agencies. This is a crisis for government, and it must be resolved.”

The figures come amid intense scrutiny of policing in England and Wales.

A Commons report published yesterday suggested forces risked becoming “irrelevant” amid vanishing neighbourhood presences and low investigation and detection rates.

Earlier this month, one of the country’s most senior officers warned policing had reached its “tipping point”, with slower emergency responses, more crimes dealt with over the phone and fewer offenders brought to justice.

The Home Office report also revealed falls in stop-and-search activity

and roadside breath tests. In the year to March, police conducted 282,248 stops and searches – a fall of 7per cent on the previous 12 months and the lowest number since current data collection started in 2001.

Chief Constable Charlie Hall, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for operations, said the number of arrests was at “the lowest level since data has been captured”. He said: “This reinforces our concern about growing demand and our ability to meet it with the resources we have.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Arrest is just one of the powers police have to tackle crime. Arrest figures do not capture trends such as an increase in voluntary attendance at police stations and a greater use of other outcomes, such as community resolutions.”