Too many victims of fraud are still receiving a poor service from
the police and are denied justice, an independent review has
found.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) found that the detrimental effect of fraud is
as great today as it has ever been. In the year ending March
2021, although other crimes decreased by 19%, overall levels of
crime stayed the same because of a large increase in fraud and
computer misuse offences*.
However, the inspectorate said fraud continues to be treated as a
low-priority or victimless crime.
HMICFRS reviewed the police service’s progress since its last
fraud inspection in 2019. It found that ten of sixteen
recommendations have been implemented, with progress made on a
further two and three still outstanding. One of the
recommendations is no longer relevant.
The inspectorate also gave five areas for improvement in 2019,
only one of which has been dealt with fully.
HMICFRS said the City of London Police’s role as the national
lead police force for fraud is clearer than it was in 2019, and
there is now a three-year national policing strategy for tackling
fraud.
The inspectorate found that the fundamental problem is a
disparity between the amount of work fraud creates for the police
and the resources allocated to it. It also said that because
funding is only confirmed a year at a time, and with relatively
short notice, it makes it difficult to plan and invest for the
long term.
Recommendations from the 2019 HMICFRS report that are yet to be
implemented include:
- evaluating the effectiveness of fraud protection advice given
to the public by police forces;
- identifying, evaluating and disseminating best practice
advice on the police response to fraud; and
- police forces publishing their policies for responding to and
investigating fraud to make it clear to victims what they can
expect when they report a fraud.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr
said:
“You are still more likely to be a victim of fraud than any other
crime, but too few fraudsters are held to account. More than two
years after our last fraud inspection, I am disappointed that not
enough has changed.
“We have seen some pockets of good work which should be
commended, and we have been impressed by the dedication of people
at all levels of the police service to improving how fraud is
dealt with. But overall, too many victims of fraud still receive
a poor service from the police.
“The scale of fraud has not diminished – in fact it has increased
during the pandemic – and it needs to become more of a priority
for police forces. The police and other agencies should come
together to prevent and protect the public from fraud, more
officers should be working on it, and there should be more
investigations into it. All this would lead to more victims
receiving the service and the justice they are entitled to.”
The inspectorate has made three new recommendations today,
including that the National Police Chiefs’ Council Coordinator
for Economic Crime, National Crime Agency, National Economic
Crime Centre and City of London Police should work together to
set up an effective national tasking and co-ordination process
for fraud.
Notes to editors:
-
Spotlight report – A review of Fraud: Time to Choose
will be published on the HMICFRS website at
00:01 on Thursday 5 August 2021.
