According to Labour’s data, 1,145,254 theft cases were abandoned in 2021 because police were unable to identify a suspect.
Last year, more than one million thefts went unsolved in England and Wales, according to research by Labour.
According to the party, it is “disgraceful” that 1,145,254 cases were dismissed because police were unable to identify a suspect.
The data also reveals that the average cost of a home invasion to a family was £1,400, indicating that millions of dollars were wasted due to unsolved crimes.
And the overall charge rate, the percentage of crimes for which a suspect is apprehended and charged, has dropped to 5.4% from nearly 15% seven years ago.
Two months prior, the National Police Chief’s Council vowed to dispatch officers to all residential burglaries for the first time.
Yvette Cooper, the opposition home secretary for the Labour Party, described theft and burglary as “horrible crimes” that “should be thoroughly probed, rather than leaving victims to file an insurance claim.”
She claimed that the incumbent home secretary, Suella Braverman, had “no plan to turn things around” and was “occupied with gimmicks instead of a serious plan to apprehend more criminals.”
Ms. Cooper asserted that Labour had a “fully costed plan” to add 13,000 neighborhood police to the streets, “fighting crime at its source and helping communities” if they gained power.
Sarah Jones, the shadow minister for policing, accused the administration of adopting a laissez-faire approach to prevention.
Ms. Jones stated that Labour would eliminate this by “placing youth workers in detention facilities and hospitals to keep young people out of crime” and by addressing mental health so that police officers can focus on crime prevention.
A representative for the Home Office stated, “As the home secretary has made clear, we appreciate the commitment to have police respond to residential burglaries.
“We continue to assist the police, especially through record investments and the hiring of 20,000 additional officers by March 2023,” the statement reads.
