2 million crimes uninvestigated every year

2 million crimes uninvestigated every year

Police are refusing to investigate more than two million reported crimes every year, including huge numbers of burglaries and thefts, according to the The Sunday Telegraph.

Almost four out of 10 offences are "screened out" as unsolvable within hours of being reported to police, and the cases are closed. As many as two-thirds of burglaries are not investigated in some areas, according to police figures.

Among 12 English and Scottish forces which released figures under Freedom of Information laws, 788,000 crimes were screened out last year from a total of 2,029,000 recorded offences - a rate of 39 per cent. The findings suggest that out of six million offences reported to forces in the UK last year, around 2.3 million were not investigated.

Official: Police leave 2m crimes uninvestigated (Sunday Telegraph, 11 November 2007)