Police failed to solve more than 215,000 burglaries last year despite a pledge to send officers to all incidents, analysis shows.
The massive number – an average of nearly 600 a day – amounted to 76 per cent of all break-ins reported to police in England and Wales.
Only 6 per cent of burglaries resulted in a suspect being taken to court, according to the evaluation of official Home Office figures by the Liberal Democrats. It found 215,933 burglaries went unsolved in 2023.
The number of unsolved cases rose by 4 per cent year-on-year even though police chiefs gave a commitment in October 2022 to send an officer to every burgled home. Their new pledge has yet to lead to an increase in solved crimes, the figures suggest.
The Lib Dems have called for an additional ‘burglary response guarantee’ requiring all such crimes to be attended – and investigated – by police.
South Yorkshire was the worst performing force, with 84 per cent of burglaries – 9,492 crimes – going unsolved. Surrey was second-worst at 82 per cent.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Since 2010 our communities are safer, with a 57 per cent fall in domestic burglaries.’
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David Barrett Home Affairs
