There’s good news and bad news to report relating to police responses if your home is burgled.
The good news is that constabularies from across the country have confirmed that – from now on – they’ll attend every domestic burglary that’s reported to them, of which there are currently around 500 every day.
The bad news is that some police forces will give up investigating a specific break-in within a month if they haven’t caught the suspect. And it hasn’t been made clear exactly how soon officers will attend after the incident.
Late last year, the National Police Chiefs' Council agreed that officers should attend every burglary nationwide, after it was revealed that only 4.8 per cent of burglars were being charged or cautioned, according to the Office for National Statistics.
We reported on this historic agreement in a previous blog, but it has taken months for all 43 forces to allocate sufficient manpower to guarantee 100% attendance.
With all reported burglaries now being investigated, the police authorities are confident that prosecution rates will rise, with many offenders being caught red-handed.
Previously, data showed that nearly 800 daily burglaries had gone unsolved since 2018, with the police failing to solve any break-ins at all over the last three years in half of 30,100 communities across England and Wales.
Consequently, the number of criminals being prosecuted nationally plummeted by 56 per cent over the same period.
The tide now appears to be turning, however. In areas covered by Justice Fire and Security across the Midlands, where forces have already decided to attend all home burglaries, convictions have started to rise whilst break-ins have begun to fall.
In Warwickshire, there has been a 55% reduction in break-ins since 2019, when officers started attending every crime scene - equating to at least 2,500 fewer burglary victims a year. Northamptonshire has also seen over 50% fewer domestic thefts over the same period.
National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Burglary, Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith, predicted other forces would soon begin revealing similar increases in detections.
“Forces that went earlier, they have seen an increase in people being locked up on suspicion of burglary, both the number of people being charged and receiving cautions,” he said.
“'We know we are not going to detect every single burglary, but we are starting from a very low base, so I would expect and predict as the national policing lead, that we will start to see detection numbers increasing as a result.
“I am pleased that all forces are now able to fulfil the commitment made last year by police chiefs to attend all residential burglaries. Although the fulfilment of this commitment is a milestone in itself, it is only the first step.
“We want to be bringing more offenders to justice, we want to be gathering more evidence and we want to be improving detection rates. We expect to be judged on the results the public see,” added DCC Franklin-Smith.
Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, said: “Burglary is an awful crime which must be tackled and that's why I am delighted to see that police forces across England and Wales have fulfilled their commitment to attend all domestic burglaries. This will help increase public confidence and see more criminals caught.”
John Hayward-Cripps of Neighbourhood Watch said: “Our own research shows that burglary is the number one crime that people are most concerned about, so we welcome the decision to attend all residential burglaries.”
No targets on response times
Whilst this may be a step in the right direction for concerned homeowners, the Police have not set any targets regarding response times. Each force can decide whether to send out an officer immediately or several days later and it will be down to individual officers to assess how long to spend at a property, along with the types of checks they carry out.
The Home Office has also stipulated that the police are only required to attend homes that are broken into - and not sheds or outbuildings, which were previously classified as being domestic properties.
Meanwhile, Home Office data has revealed that police forces are abandoning up to 70 per cent of burglary investigations within a month unless somebody has been brought to book.
According to the data, seven out of ten burglary investigations from April in Bedfordshire have been abandoned because officers could not identify a suspect.
The Home Office wants each force to record its crime data in a similar manner, to compare performance, providing an accurate overall picture of how each police force is managing the fight against domestic burglary.
As yet, a number of police forces have been unable to provide data, although they are expected to release figures at a later date. Some of this delay has been put down to IT issues.
Police advice on securing your property
According to the police, homeowners can take several specific measures to help protect themselves from being targeted by burglars. These include:
- installing a good quality CCTV and alarm system.
- fitting doors and windows with high-quality locks
- securing properties even during hot weather, as opportunist thieves are willing to jump through open windows.
Justice Fire & Security Managing Director, Dave Sanders, said he concurred with the police advice and welcomed the latest data showing that crime rates are falling, as a result of the new police policy to attend 100% of burglaries. But he added: “The most effective way of keeping burglars away is by having an effective intruder alarm, often backed up by CCTV, especially on larger properties or plot sizes, where there could be a number of unobtrusive access points.”
Protecting your home with an effective, easy-to-operate home security system is the best way to defend your property from the threat of burglary. For over 35 years, Justice Fire & Security have been installing high-quality intruder alarms in homes across Birmingham, the West Midlands and the surrounding counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. For a free, no-obligation quote contact our friendly and knowledgeable staff today at 0845 257 0090 or email: admin@justicesecurity.co.uk
