Police failed to solve any burglaries in half of neighbourhoods since 2020
Police have failed to solve a single burglary across nearly half of England and Wales recently, official data show.
An analysis of police data from 30,100 neighbourhoods found that in 48.2 per cent, no break-ins had been solved in the three years ending March 2023.
More than 80 burglaries remained unsolved over the period in each of the three worst areas in Hants, South Yorks and south-east London.
The figures come ahead of the annual report this week by Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s chief inspector of constabulary, who warns the failure threatens the police bond of trust with the public.
The data include the time since England and Wales’s 43 chief constables pledged last October that their officers would visit the scene of every burglary, although most forces exclude outbuildings, sheds or garages. The figures are unchanged since The Telegraph carried out a similar exercise last June.
Rick Muir, director at the Police Foundation, Britain’s independent police think tank, said they demonstrated police had a “long way to go” to restore public confidence after a collapse in national charging rates for burglary, down from one in 14 (6.7 per cent) in 2016 to less than one in 25 (3.9 per cent) in 2022.
He said: “It is fair to say that in some parts of the country, there are some crime types – in this case, burglary – that have become decriminalised because there is absolutely no consequence to committing the crime.
“One thing you know about offending from the research is that the length of the sentence doesn’t deter thieves. They don’t think about the length of the sentence because they don’t think they will be caught.
“What is proven to affect the likelihood of offending is the chance that you may be caught. If you have detection rates so low, it means that there is not an effective deterrent to committing these crimes. That is a big problem.”
Dame Vera Baird, former victims’ commissioner, police and crime commissioner and solicitor general, said: “Every burglary that is not solved means it is going to happen again. Without any doubt, burglary is a serial offence. That’s what the police were always telling me.”
Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for burglary, said the number of burglaries was at an all-time low. “We will continue to prioritise preventing these offences, targeting repeat offenders and organised crime groups and solving as many burglaries as we can,” he said.
“All forces are now able to fulfil the commitment made last year by police chiefs to attend all residential burglaries. Many forces have dedicated burglary teams to identify links between burglaries and find the evidence that enables offenders to be charged.”
A neighbourhood is defined as having about 1,500 people or 650 households. Of the 30,100 analysed, 14,505 had no burglaries solved over the three years. Of these, about half – 7,776 – had 10 or more unsolved.
Of the 30,100, just 61 had reported no burglaries. The most burgled areas were Leeds centre (446, 70.2 per cent unsolved), Fitzrovia West and Soho (405, 91.6 per cent unsolved) and Cathedral Quarter, Derby (353, 89 per cent).
Those with the highest number of unsolved were Lyndhurst and Minstead in the New Forest (84), Balby Carr in Doncaster (83), Greenwich Town and Park, London (82), Woodgate Valley, Birmingham (79) and Kensington in Liverpool (78).
