A shocking analysis reveals police have not solved any thefts in 30% of neighborhoods across England and Wales over the past three years
London: It’s pretty wild to think that police haven’t cracked a single theft case in a third of neighborhoods. A recent analysis by the Telegraph shows that in 30% of areas, not one burglary or bike theft has been solved in the last three years.
Can you believe it? Out of over 33,000 neighborhoods in England and Wales, more than 10,000 have seen zero success in solving thefts, even with 20,000 extra officers on the streets. It’s a head-scratcher.
This analysis is the first of its kind, covering all personal thefts and burglaries, but it doesn’t even include shoplifting, which is also on the rise. The data looks at small areas with about 400 to 1,200 homes.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is planning to introduce new performance benchmarks for local police. She wants to hold them accountable for the extra officers she’s adding to tackle everyday crimes like theft and burglary.
Both Cooper and her Tory counterpart, Chris Philp, have called the low clear-up rates “unacceptable.” They’re concerned that police have been focusing less on these “lower level” crimes over the past decade.
It’s a bit alarming, really. The chances of catching a suspect for thefts have dropped significantly, from about one in nine cases in 2014-15 to just one in 15 recently. That’s a big decline.
Interestingly, the analysis shows that the situation varies a lot by location. In over 13,000 neighborhoods, which is about 39% of the total, fewer than one in 50 thefts are solved. That’s just crazy!
In some high-crime areas, like central Westminster, only four out of nearly 1,900 thefts were solved in the last three years. It’s no wonder people are feeling let down.
A Home Office spokesperson mentioned that this trend has really hurt public confidence. Many folks worry that if they call the police, no one will show up or take action.
Philp has urged police to step up their game. He wants them to follow every lead, check CCTV footage against their database, and track stolen items more effectively. He believes that the best-performing forces are nearly three times more successful than the worst.
Despite promises to respond to every burglary, police have failed to solve any cases in nearly half of all neighborhoods. In fact, no burglaries were solved in 46% of areas over the past three years.
The stats are pretty grim. The rate of burglaries leading to charges dropped to just 3.9% this year, down from 4.6% last year. Leeds city center has the highest burglary rate, with one in three homes experiencing a break-in.
It seems like personal theft cases are being ignored in some places. For instance, Victoria railway station in London had 502 thefts, and none were solved. Other tourist spots are facing similar issues.
Overall, the analysis shows that no personal thefts were solved in over 19,000 neighborhoods. Bike thefts are particularly bad, with 61% of cases going unsolved. It’s a tough situation for many communities.
