Burglars evade justice as police solve just one in 20 cases
Burglars evade justice as police solve just one in 20 cases, HALF as many as seven years ago
Home Office statistics show that as few as 5 per cent of burglaries are solvedIt comes after around 268,000 were committed in the most recent 12 monthsThe figures are a fall from the previous period of 9.4 per cent being solved
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Burglars are escaping justice with as little as 5 per cent of their crimes ever reaching court, new data suggests.
The figures taken from the 12 months between April 2020 and 2021 are a fall on the previous year’s success rate of 9.4 per cent.
Latest Home Office statistics show there were 268,000 burglaries in the period but only 14,000 were ever solved.
A total of 243,000 cases were abandoned for reasons unknown, but connected to a lack of suspects.
Analysis by The Times says of the 268,000 burglaries in 2020-21 there were 211,411 investigations were closed without a suspect identified.
The Met Police’s figures said 3.8 per cent of its 40,000 burglary cases in the last year on record led to a charge, summons or community penalty.
Burglars are escaping justice with as little as 5 per cent of their crimes ever reaching court
Burglary is a crime that has a deep impact on victims with many left selling their homes
Susan Hall, chairwoman of the capital’s police and crime committee, said: ‘Londoners want to feel safe in their own homes.
‘Mistrust in the police is at a record high, the number of burglaries solved is at a record low, the Met are not earning that trust back.
‘There are more police officers in London today than at any point in almost 20 years, the resources are clearly available. Sadiq Khan, the mayor, needs to abolish the failing policy of sifting out crime that the Met think will be hard to solve.
‘Crimes should not be ignored just because they are difficult to solve,’ she told the Times.
It is a far cry from figure back in 2014 when police solved around 32,000 of 342,043 burglaries.
The Home Office statistics show crime in general being solved has also dropped.
Figures suggest that only one in 17 are solved, with one in 77 rapes ever leading to a charge.
Ministers are being urged to create a national policing policy that would see officers sent to the scene of every burglary across the UK, as three forces find the method cuts break-ins
As part of Operation Crooked, Northamptonshire Police force sent Christmas cards (pictured) to known burglars in the area to warn them to have a ‘crime-free Christmas’ last month
But some forces are above the average with their own burglary numbers.
Durham and Northumbria had a 12 per cent success rate, ahead of Suffolk with over ten.
Earlier this month MailOnline told how police forces across the UK were being urged to send officers to every burglary scene after three forces saw a dramatic drop in the number of burglaries.
Forces in Greater Manchester, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire all publicly pledged to send an officer to every burglary in a bid to tackle the number of unsolved crimes.
As the forces have confirmed the approach has produced a visible impact on the number of break-ins across their counties, ministers believe the results are evidence a national roll-out of the strategy is justified.
A Government source told the Daily Telegraph: ‘This is good policing. The public expect the police to pursue available opportunities to prevent and detect crime.
‘Not only do you get to speak to the victims, which is important from a reassurance point of view, but you can also pick up forensics like fingerprints. Most of these people are repeat offenders.’
Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Crooked aims to make the county a ‘hostile environment’ for burglars and saw the force slash the number of domestic break-ins by 48 per cent, according to the Telegraph.
In two years, the number of burglaries dropped from 5,500 to 2,850.
As part of its operation, Northamptonshire Police also issued named photos and wanted appeals for six of its most prolific burglars.
