Police abandon investigations into almost four crimes every minute.
There were 2,040,976 offences reported in England and Wales in the year to June where no suspect was identified – equivalent to 5,592 every single day, or 3.8 per minute.
Out of the 5.3million crimes logged by police in England and Wales in the year, 38.6 per cent were closed as ‘investigation complete – no suspect identified’.
The figures showed only 3 per cent of rapes reported to police led to a suspect being charged.
The respective number for ‘violence against the person’ was 6.3 per cent, robbery 8.1 per cent and theft 7.6 per cent, including just 4.8 per cent of house burglaries.
A further 679,802 cases where victims still wanted to seek justice were abandoned due to ‘evidential difficulties’. Investigations into another 1.3million crimes ended in cases where the victims no longer supported police inquiries.
Only 402,692 reported crimes led to a suspect receiving a charge or a court summons – 7.6 per cent of the total.
The proportion charged was up from 6.7 per cent in the previous 12 months but is still far below the 15 per cent from a decade ago.
Police abandon investigations into almost four crimes every minute (stock photo of police officers escorting a man in handcuffs)
The charge rate has risen slowly from a low of 5.4 per cent in 2022 despite the previous Conservative government’s massive investment in police recruitment. In March 2024, the number of full-time equivalent police officers hit a record 147,745, but the total has since fallen by more than 1,300.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to outline plans to shake-up police forces in a bid to improve performance. It has been reported she is to slash the number of regional forces in England and Wales from the current 43 to just 12, after last month describing the current set-up as ‘irrational’.
She has also warned top officers that members of the public who make ‘perfectly legal’ remarks online should not be investigated, amid widespread concern that politically motivated complaints are eroding free speech.
The Home Office also said last week that police budgets will rise by £798million in the next financial year to £19.5billion, a 4.3 per cent increase.
Analysis of the official Home Office data also revealed an increasing number of offenders are being handed an informal ‘community resolution’ by the police instead of being taken to court.
Just under 161,000 were given this type of ‘slap on the wrist’, which sees the offender admit their crime.
As part of the punishment, they may agree to apologise to their victim, pay damages or do unpaid work such as litter picking or graffiti removal, while the offence is logged as ‘no further action’ on their criminal record.
Community resolutions were used in 3 per cent of reported crimes in the 12-month period, up from 2.4 per cent two years earlier.
Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: ‘The police are not solving enough crimes. They should use technology such as facial recognition and geo-tracking to bring more perpetrators to justice. Evidence should always be followed up and never ignored.’
Referencing the low number of crimes resulting in charges being brought, he added: ‘This makes it even more concerning that police officer numbers are now falling under this Labour Government.’
A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman said: ‘Every crime reported to police is assessed under THRIVE principles (Threat, Harm, Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability, Engagement) and where possible all lines of inquiry will be followed.
‘Not every case will result in criminal charges being brought –this depends on the evidence available and whether it meets the legal threshold for charge.
‘What we can assure the public is that we pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry to seek justice for victims wherever the evidence allows.’
