Police failed to attend over 45,000 burglaries last year

• Over 100 burglaries going unattended by police every day

• Postcode lottery as police in some areas attend fewer than one in two break-ins

• Ed Davey calls for “Burglary Response Guarantee” with every case attended by police

Over 45,000 burglaries reported last year went unattended by the police, stark figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The data, obtained by the party through Freedom of Information requests, shows there were 45,233 reported burglaries in 2022 where a police officer didn’t then visit the scene of the crime. This is equivalent to over 120 burglaries a day going unattended by police.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today call for a guarantee to ensure burglary victims are visited by a police officer and their cases properly investigated.

The figures also show a postcode lottery, with over one in two burglary reports going unattended by police in some areas. The worst performing police force was Bedfordshire, with police officers failing to visit the scene of over 60% of reported burglaries.

Overall, almost four in ten burglaries in the country did not result in a visit to the scene by a police officer. The figures were based on data provided by 19 police forces in England. Another 14 forces refused to provide the figures.

The FOI data also shows a staggering 75% of burglaries reported to the 19 police forces last year were closed without a suspect being identified. Some of the areas with the fewest cases solved were also those with the most burglaries going unattended. Cambridgeshire Police saw just 47% of reported burglaries attended by a police officer, while eight in ten burglaries were unsolved. Similarly, officers from Surrey Police visited the scene of just 49% of burglaries, while again eight in ten cases went unsolved.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new “Burglary Response Guarantee,” under which all domestic burglaries would be attended by the police and properly investigated. The party is calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers have the time and resources they need to focus on preventing and solving crime. Since 2015, the Conservatives have taken over 4,000 Police Community Support Officers off the streets, while they look set to have broken their key promise of having recruited an extra 20,000 police officers by the end of March 2023.

This policy would be implemented by introducing a new statutory guarantee that all burglaries will be attended by police and properly investigated.

The Home Secretary can bring forward legislation to do this, but if she doesn’t, Liberal Democrats will seek to add this to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, which is heading through Parliament right now.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Everyone should be able to feel safe in their own homes. But this Conservative government has left our police forces overstretched and under-resourced, meaning far too many victims are let down while criminals are getting away with it.

No family should be denied justice after suffering the distress and trauma of being burgled. At the very least, people should know that if they are burgled, the police will attend the scene and investigate properly.

It’s clear that words aren’t enough. People are sick of broken Conservative Party promises – which is why the Home Secretary must introduce a statutory guarantee for burglary victims without delay.