Police now attend every home burglary after chief constables' landmark deal
8 June 2023, 00:04 | Updated: 8 June 2023, 01:19
Police will now attend every home burglary following a pledge made last year, The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has confirmed.
The police council said the commitment to attending burglaries has been in effect across England and Wales since March.
Last October police chief constables made a historical deal as they pledged to attend all burglaries following research from the College of Policing which showed it’s most effective in combatting the criminal offence.
But the goals of the pledge were undermined earlier this week after an analysis of police data found that in just over 48% of 30,100 neighbourhoods, no burglaries were solved in the three years ending in March 2023.
A neighbourhood is classified as containing about 1,500 people or 650 households. Some 14,505 of 30,100 had no burglaries solved over the three years. Out of those, 7,776 had ten or more unsolved burglaries.
But the NPCC’s lead for Burglary, Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith has confirmed police: “Are now able to fulfil the commitment made last year by police chiefs to attend all residential burglaries," meaning all police forces will officially be implementing the commitment.
It was reported that chief constables were “working at pace to ensure that this commitment could be fulfilled as soon as practically possible”.
The crime recording process is also to shift to create a distinction between the burglary of a home and of an unconnected building (e.g. a shed) as the two were previously treated as the same category of burglary.
The NPCC acknowledged an incident affecting either type of building can be invasive and upsetting, but suggested a clearer distinction between the two would help them record the crimes.
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The NPCC believes prosecution rates will soar under the historic pledge, as police must act on 999 reports before closing cases.
The Office for National Statistics figures showed that only 4.8 per cent of burglars were charged or cautioned before the agreement.
NPCC’s Lead for Burglary, Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith, said: “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.
“Burglaries are an insidious crime. They do not just involve the loss of personal possessions, which in itself is very distressing, but they are also extremely invasive and can make people feel unsafe in their own homes.
“The number of burglaries is at an all time-low, down more than 50 per cent over the past decade, but we are not complacent. We will continue to prioritise preventing these offences, targeting repeat offenders and organised crime groups and solving as many burglaries as we can.”
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.”
