Officers will attend “all home burglaries” for the first time, sheriffs from around the country have pledged.
The pledge is intended to build public confidence in officers, and has been signed by all 43 police chiefs in England and Wales, said the chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
The move would see officers always visit victims of thefts, regardless of the location and the items that were stolen.
NPCC chairman Martin Hewitt wrote in the Daily Mail: “Some police chiefs have struggled to attend to all the burglaries with limited resources and balance the rise in complex crimes. and highly dangerous”.
“But theft is invasive and can be deeply hurtful.
“We want people to have peace of mind knowing that if you go through that invasion, the police will come, find all possible evidence and do their best to catch those responsible.”
It comes a day after figures emerged showing forces had recorded 1.76 million burglaries since 2017 and only 5% of those resulted in criminal charges or court summons. , according to the newspaper.
Over the past five years an average of 774 burglaries have gone unsolved each day across England and Wales.
NPCC President, Martin Hewitt
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The rate of reported burglaries involving an officer has recently fallen to 50% within the Metropolitan Police, with commissioner Sir Mark Rowley last week saying it was unacceptable. .
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We will never prosecute individual criminals and the public understands that, but an incident as serious as theft requires appropriate action.”
“It’s too big of a break-in if someone doesn’t show up.”
The NPCC has asked newly appointed Interior Secretary Suella Braverman to help the police chief focus more resources on solving crime, with a 2018 National Audit report showing that 64% of emergency calls were not related to criminal offenses.
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Just 5.6% of offenses in England and Wales in 2021/22 – around one in 18 – resulted in a charge and/or summons, down from 7.1%, or one in 14, on 2020/21, according to Interior Ministry figures released in July.
Mr. Hewitt added: “We are asking the government to take the expansion of police duties seriously. We want to focus more on solving crime. The public wants the same and politicians do. also”.
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In his article, he also called for a review of crime-recording processes, claiming the current system takes officers out of neighborhood policing and causes “false” statistics. “.
“Right now, for the purposes of crime recording, a burglary of someone’s home is treated as a spade from a barn. There must be a better way,” he wrote.
Finally, Mr Hewitt said police and government need to work together to agree on a consistent standard of core police services, “with evidence and public priority at the heart” when making decisions. determined.
