Police fail to solve single burglary in half of neighbourhoods in last three years

Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for burglary, said the number of burglaries was at an all-time low.

“We will continue to prioritise preventing these offences, targeting repeat offenders and organised crime groups and solving as many burglaries as we can,” he said.

“All forces are now able to fulfil the commitment made last year by police chiefs to attend all residential burglaries. Many forces have dedicated burglary teams to identify links between burglaries and find the evidence that enables offenders to be charged.”

A neighbourhood is defined as having about 1,500 people or 650 households. Of the 30,100 analysed, 14,505 had no burglaries solved over the three years. Of these, about half – 7,776 – had 10 or more unsolved.

Of the 30,100, just 61 had reported no burglaries. The most burgled areas were Leeds city centre (446, 70.2 per cent unsolved), Fitzrovia West and Soho (405, 91.6 per cent unsolved) and Cathedral Quarter, Derby (353, 89 per cent).

The neighbourhoods with the highest number where no burglaries were solved were Lyndhurst and Minstead in the New Forest (84), Balby Carr in Doncaster (83), Greenwich Town and Park, London (82), Woodgate Valley, Birmingham (79) and Kensington in Liverpool (78).

‘It’s all nicey, nicey on the phone’

A New Forest resident in one of the worst areas had items she brought back from holiday stolen after burglars cut through the coach locks of her gate, waking her up terrified in the middle of the night.

After filling out an online form, she heard nothing from the police about her case. 

“What’s to stop people from doing it? They know we have to restock and they can do it again,” she said. 

“What is the deterrent? Electric gates, security lighting, stuff is padlocked away… and they still come for it. 

“It’s all nicey, nicey on the phone, ‘do you want counselling?’ But when you’ve heard all your neighbours are being picked off one by one – you think, ‘no I’d rather just not be robbed’.”