Police failing to properly investigate quarter of thefts and assaults after years of cuts, inspectors find

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Hundreds of thousands of crimes are not being investigated properly, a police watchdog has suggested.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said one in four probes into assaults and thefts were ineffective as the “cracks widen” after years of cuts to policing.

The watchdog said it has become commonplace for forces “to screen out” many crimes that they consider low risk because of rising demand and stretched resources.

It found that a quarter of thefts and common assaults in a sample of 2,600 cases examined had “ineffective investigations”, and officers were not properly supervised in a third of probes.

When applied to the more than two million thefts recorded in England and Wales in 2018, the findings suggest 500,500 offences were not properly investigated.

HM inspector Matt Parr said that because of a nationwide shortage of detectives, “bobbies on the beat” are being handed investigative work without the training, experience or support needed.

Failures including missing evidence and potential lines of inquiry could mean that criminals are not caught, he warned.

“It used to be in an ideal world that you would have your CID, your response force, your community policing and they all had very distinct jobs,” Mr Parr added.

“Response officers didn’t do investigations, now they do … they do their best but they’re just not as good.”

HMIC said that 14 per cent of detective posts are currently vacant across England and Wales and that even with recruitment programmes, the gap will take years to fill.

Louise Haigh, the shadow policing minister, said: “The Tories have been warned time after time over their reckless cuts and we are now seeing the consequences, with key pillars of policing across the country starting to corrode.

“Investigations are collapsing, neighbourhood policing is suffering, officer welfare is declining and there is a rising threat from insider corruption.

“This government has serious multiple failings but their abysmal record on policing has to be among the most devastating. It’s all of our communities that suffer.”

Crime prioritisation programmes are seeing offences deemed high risk passed to specialist investigators, and more common crimes like burglary and theft left with inexperienced officers who may only call victims rather than visiting the scene.

Mr Parr said that although some of the forces examined had “learnt well to deal with a decrease in forces and increase in pressure”, victims are not getting the service they expect.

“The cracks are starting to widen and we’re seeing it in different areas,” he told journalists.

“The phenomenon of screening crimes out to manage demand is now commonplace … even where there are clear investigative opportunities or perpetrators have been identified.”

He was speaking days after the head of Greater Manchester Police said 43 per cent of crime reports were being screened out by the force.

“If your shed’s broken into, your bike’s stolen, your vehicle’s broken into and there’s no witnesses and there’s no CCTV and there’s no opportunity for forensics we will be screening that out really quickly,” chief constable Ian Hopkins said.

“Either people have to accept that a modern police service has to really prioritise against those things that cause the most harm and threat and risk in our community, or there has to be more investment.”

HMIC is examining police across England and Wales in three groups, and Wednesday’s report covered 14 forces.

Mr Parr said that they were representative of the wider country and the issues identified were “not unique”.

The report warned that strained resources were leaving anti-corruption units underfunded because their work has been deprioritised amid a rise in violent crime and complex sexual abuse investigations.

Inspectors found that half of West Midlands Police officers had not been through up-to-date vetting procedures, which they called the “first line of defence against corruption”.

The report warned of a “big upsurge” in allegations of police officers abusing power for sexual gain but said the figures could be caused by improved reporting.

Mr Parr said forces were underfunding anti-corruption work because they were using the resources to ease pressure in other areas, but warned of “serious long-term implications”.

He called on other police forces to “be more clear about what their priorities are”, as neighbourhood police are being diverted away from their communities.

HMIC said neighbourhood policing had been “almost eliminated” in some forces because officers were needed for short-term work like urgent investigations and protests.

Martin Hewitt, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said policing was “under severe pressure and requires additional long-term funding”.

“Without change, this strain will see our service to the public deteriorate – further undermining critical services like neighbourhood policing, crime investigation and counter-corruption,” he added.

“We are working closely with the Home Office and police and crime commissioners to make the case for further funding at the next spending review.”

The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers in England and Wales, said the report “laid bare the consequences of years of austerity”.

“We need to stop being the service that can’t say no and be realistic about what we can and can’t do,” chair John Apter said.

Mr Parr said it was “too simplistic” to say the issues would be solved by reversing police funding cuts and the loss of more than 20,000 officers since 2010.

But he acknowledged that increased budgets could give police forces the capacity to screen out fewer crimes and give a better service to the public.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We recognise new demands are putting pressure on the police and we are committed to ensuring they have the resource they need. This is why we have provided more than a £1bn increase in police funding compared to last year, including council tax and funding to tackle serious violence.

“There are clear areas for improvement for some forces and we expect them to consider these findings carefully and to identify and implement improvements swiftly.

“We are pleased to see detective capacity has increased by 5 per cent this year, but are clear that forces must continue make progress on reducing the shortfall to improve their investigative capabilities.”