Lib Dems PCC campaign launch: Restore community policing to end scandal of 1.8m unsolved crimes

Friday, 16 April 2021 09:15

The Liberal Democrats will launch their national Police and Crime Commissioner campaign in Stockport by calling on the Government to restore community policing. New analysis by the party reveals more than 1.8 million crimes reported to the police last year closed without a suspect being identified. Separate figures show that half of all people say they never see police patrols in their local area. Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP, will today call for a return...Request free trial

The Liberal Democrats will launch their national Police and Crime Commissioner campaign in Stockport by calling on the Government to restore community policing.

New analysis by the party reveals more than 1.8 million crimes reported to the police last year closed without a suspect being identified. Separate figures show that half of all people say they never see police patrols in their local area.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP, will today call for a return to proper community policing:

“Everyone has the right to feel safe where they live and know those who commit crimes will be punished. But this Conservative Government is leaving our communities vulnerable and letting criminals get away with it.

“Instead of letting police officers get on with their jobs, Tory Ministers want them chasing centralised Whitehall targets and carrying out pointless, suspicionless Stop and Search.

“Police need the officers, resources and time to focus on preventing and solving crimes.

“Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and known personally to local people. We will do what works to build communities where people are safe and feel safe too.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, in 2019-20 48% of people said they never see police foot patrols, up from 30% in 2014-15. The data is available in Table S10 here.

New analysis by the Liberal Democrats reveals that just 1.8 million crimes reported to the police last year were closed without a suspect being identified – including 238,000 burglaries, 71,000 car thefts and 37,000 robberies.

The party’s analysis shows that 79% of all burglary cases and 53% of robberies are closed without a suspect being identified.

Police Force outcomes for offences recorded Oct 2019-Sep 2020:

Offence group	All outcomes	Investigation complete – no suspect identified	% no suspect identified
TOTAL	4,683,008	1,839,541	39%
Theft excluding burglary, motor vehicle theft & shoplifting	821,877	663,058	81%
Burglary (domestic & non-domestic)	301,932	237,976	79%
Theft of a motor vehicle	97,065	71,450	74%
Criminal damage & arson	490,941	298,226	61%
Robbery	69,574	36,941	53%
Shoplifting	270,764	139,425	51%
Public order offences	446,911	121,648	27%
Miscellaneous crimes	101,744	18,332	18%
Rape & other sexual offences	144,775	22,380	15%
Violence against the person	1,702,887	221,438	13%
Possession of weapons offences	43,099	3,916	9%
Drug offences	191,439	4,751	2%

Source: Home Office, Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables, available here.

Note: Greater Manchester Police has not supplied this data to the Home Office since July 2019, so is excluded from this analysis.

The use of Section 60 ‘suspicionless’ Stop and Search has increased 29-fold in the last three years, from 622 searches in 2016-17 to 18,081 in 2019-20. Just 1.4% result in a weapon being found.

Source: Home Office, Police powers and procedures, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2020 second edition, Table SS_07, available here.

In January, The Guardian reported that the Home Office has discussed with police chiefs plans to set targets for reductions in certain types of crime, “in return for government providing the money for 20,000 new officers”.