A recent survey reveals that many Brits lack confidence in police response to burglaries, prompting calls for urgent reforms.
London: Almost half of the public thinks that if their home got burgled, the police wouldn’t even show up. A recent survey really highlights this issue.
According to the Savanta survey, only 50% of adults believe officers would respond to a burglary report. That’s pretty shocking, right? Even worse, 46% think they wouldn’t come at all.
Older folks seem to be even more skeptical. About 54% of them doubt the police would knock on their door after a burglary. And it’s not just home break-ins; nearly half of people don’t think police would show up for a car theft either.
It gets crazier—41% believe cops wouldn’t investigate a street assault. That’s a serious lack of faith in law enforcement.
Interestingly, 8% of people said they needed to call 999 in the last two years but chose not to. A quarter of those folks thought the police would take too long to arrive.
Lisa Smart, the Lib Dem Home Affairs spokeswoman, called these findings scandalous. She pointed out that with so many unsolved crimes, it’s hard to be surprised.
She emphasized that people should feel secure knowing the police will respond and investigate properly. Smart urged the new government to act fast to rebuild public trust in policing.
She suggested a return to community policing, which means having more officers on the streets to keep neighborhoods safe.
Last year, police abandoned four unsolved crimes every minute. That’s a staggering number! They couldn’t identify suspects in over half of robberies and even more in cases of criminal damage and arson.
In the first half of 2024 alone, more than 2.2 million criminal investigations were closed without finding a culprit. That’s about 41.3% of all cases, which breaks down to 4.2 crimes every minute. It’s a tough situation for everyone involved.
