Police abandoned more than two million investigations into reported crimes last year, shocking figures show.
Official data shows that forces in England and Wales recorded 2,136,930 offenses as “full investigation, no suspect identified” during the year.
It means more than 5,800 inquiries a day were dropped, a Labor Party analysis of Home Office data revealed.
The two million figure, recorded in the 12 months to September, marked a 25 percent increase from a year earlier, when it stood at 1.7 million.
It increased 41% compared to 2015, when 1.5 million crimes were registered as “full investigation, no suspect identified”. Last year’s total included more than 325,000 violent crimes in which police abandoned investigations and more than 30,000 sexual crimes.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who obtained the figures, said: “After 13 years, the Conservative legacy is that more criminals are released while more victims are defrauded.”
Police abandoned investigations of more than 34,000 robberies without identifying the perpetrator. There were also more than 324,000 incidents of criminal damage or arson, and just under 1.3 million robberies, in which no offenders were located. In addition, the police abandoned investigations into more than 191,000 offenses against public order.
Police abandoned investigations of more than 34,000 robberies without identifying the perpetrator.
There were also more than 324,000 incidents of criminal damage or arson, and just under 1.3 million robberies, in which no offenders were located.
In addition, the police abandoned investigations into more than 191,000 offenses against public order.
The Home Secretary is missing in action
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who obtained the figures, said: ‘After 13 years, the Conservative legacy is that more criminals are being let out while more victims are being let down. This is a shocking drop in the number of criminals arrested and charged, even for very serious offences.’
She added: ‘The Home Secretary is missing in action.
“She (Suella Braverman) doesn’t have any plans to reverse this or address the huge shortage of detectives or neighborhood cops.
‘Labor have a fully-costed plan to put an additional 13,000 neighborhood police on our streets, fighting crime at its source and supporting communities.’
The Daily Mail previously reported how the proportion of suspects charged with crimes has plummeted since 2015.
Overall, the charge rate fell from 15.5 percent to just 5.5 percent last year.
There has been widespread concern about the falling rate of charges in rape cases, which collapsed from 8.5 percent in 2015 to just 1.6 percent last year.
In that time, the rate of charges has decreased for each type of crime.
Among ‘violence against the person’ crimes, the rate has collapsed from 22% in 2015 to 5% in the same period.
Meanwhile, theft figures fell from 17.3 percent to 8.3 percent.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Changes to police recording of crimes mean they are recording more incidents where they would not have previously.”
‘Total crime, excluding digital fraud, according to the ONS-backed definitive crime survey, has actually decreased by almost 50% since 2010 and 8% from the year before the 2019/20 pandemic.
“Labour and Yvette Cooper just don’t have a clue.”