Police Ignore 40% of all Crime Reports

[JohnRich 4]

News:

Police brand four out of ten crimes 'unsolvable' just hours after they are reported

Four out of ten crimes are written off as unsolvable just a few hours after they are reported.

The two million offences are simply "screened out" - and their victims have little or no chance of seeing the culprit brought to justice.

No officer visits the scene of the crime, and no attempt is made to find a suspect.

As many as two-thirds of burglaries are not investigated in some areas, according to the police figures.

Even robberies and violent crimes can be screened out - along with fraud, theft and vandalism.

Among the 12 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, this means 39 per cent are written off in this way.

The findings suggest that out of 6 million offences reported to forces in the last year, around 2.3 million were not investigated...

Source: Daily Mail

Shocking!

[pop 0]

Anything to back up these stats? Is this just in UK or in US as well?

7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer

[BillyVance 34]

Makes sense, police don't give a shit about home burglaries if only stuff was taken and nobody physically hurt, and no obvious evidence as to who did it.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[TrophyHusband 0]

when i lived in seattle the police wouldn't even come when my car got broken into. the person i talked to said they were just to busy with bogger problems. funny how they always had time to pull people over on i-5 at 4 in the afternoon making bad traffic even worse.

when i was in missisippi, i had a bag of stuff taken from my garage. the sherrif came out but said not to expect to see my stuff again.

here in rural idaho i had some things taken from my truck. i thought for sure that a sherrif would be sent, but no, my info was just taken over the phone. i flagged down a sherrif driving by my house the next day. we filled out a statement and i was told that i would never see my stuff again and there was really no way find out who did it.

i can believe that i significant percentage of crimes are not investigated here in the u.s.

"Your scrotum is quite nice" - Skymama
www.kjandmegan.com

[BillyVance 34]

Yeah, it's really frustrating huh? About all you can do is have a few hidden cameras to hopefully catch the perps in the act, and get their face on camera, or some kind of effective alarm that makes them shit/pee their pants so they never want to come back again.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Esquilax 0]

More reason for private citizens to carry firearms.

Ostriches and rheas are the only birds that urinate and defecate separately. They read Parachutist while doing #2.

[pop 0]

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Makes sense, police don't give a shit about home burglaries if only stuff was taken and nobody physically hurt, and no obvious evidence as to who did it.

But they do give a shit about pulling you over for going 10 miles over the speedlimit. What a joke.

7 ounce wonders, music and dogs that are not into beer

[rehmwa 2]

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Makes sense, police don't give a shit about home burglaries if only stuff was taken and nobody physically hurt, and no obvious evidence as to who did it.

But they do give a shit about pulling you over for going 10 miles over the speedlimit. What a joke.

don't forget window tinting being too dark also....

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[livendive 8]

A summary of my last 6 calls to the police...

1 - I was 21ish, and the girl who'd spent the night with me stole my wallet and my car. A police officer responded, I told her where I thought the girl had likely headed and that time was of the essence before she'd head out of state. The (female) police officer told me perhaps I should be more careful who I sleep with, and that my expected location for the gal was out of her jurisdiction, thus she couldn't help. I woke a neighbor up, had them drive me to that apartment complex, saw my car, and called the police from the manager's office. Officers responded, searched me, placed me in the back of the car, then started driving towards the car. The girl was walking through the lot, they stopped her, she balked and gave me my stuff back, minus some fairly trivial amount of money missing from my wallet...maybe a couple hundred bucks tops.

2 - A disgruntled ex-roommate broke into our house and stole some of my other roommate's stuff. I can't remember exactly what, other than a deer rifle, a bottle of change, and a VCR. Somehow (how escapes my memory), he made it very clear that it'd been him. We called the cops that evening, they asked if we knew the guys current address and we didn't. They took the report over the phone and didn't stop by. The following week it happened again, so I booby-trapped the house & spent a week home from work trying to catch him in the act, but that was the last we heard of him.

3 - Several people of dubious employ (suspected drug dealers) lived in the house behind my apartment. One night, an argument between a guy and a gal got quite heated. She climbed into a dead pickup truck disposed of in the middle of the yard and he beat the shit out of it with a baseball bat while screaming at her. A few nights later their voices escalated again, but this time the quarrel ended with 4 gunshots. I called 911 and reported the shooting and told the operator I wanted to remain anonymous due to the number and nature of occupants in the house. Police responded to that location. About 20 minutes later, my phone rang. It was the police dispatcher. She reported that an officer wanted to bring a suspect over to my place for an ID...just as I was declining, there was a knock on the door. Yep, it was the cop and the shooter. I moved.

4 - While I was grocery shopping, someone hit my truck and took off. I called the police to report the hit and run and they told me they wouldn't send an officer unless someone was seriously injured. I picked up the pieces of their busted ass car laying on the ground and used a part number to narrow it down to a specific year, make, model, and color of vehicle. I asked the police for a list of all such vehicles registered in the area, knowing there couldn't be more than a dozen or so locally, and planning to find one with a busted up front end...the police declined to give me that list.

5 - I called police because a few kids skateboarding were tearing up the concrete edging around an island in a parking lot and throwing those big pieces of concrete around among the parked cars. Police were on scene in less than one minute.

6 - I went to where I keep my trailer in the winter to find it had been broken into. I called the police simply to report it and ask for a report number in case I decided to turn it in to my insurance. An officer came by that night to take a statement, and told me they would not be following up. Damage turned out to be inexpensive so nothing further came of it.

My conclusion? If they know there are Mexicans or skateboarders involved, the cops are all over it. Otherwise, they're relatively useless.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[skycop 0]

Yea you're right, those damn skateboarders......

It's not a question of ignore, it's a question of solvability factors and resource allocation, especially in urban areas.
The sad truth is police departments have to set their priorities in line with available resources.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[Richards 0]

1.My house got broke into and the cops took a report and I heard nothing of it. No fingerprints...nothing.

2. Guy in a van tried to sell me all kinds of AV/ home entertainment equipment for cash (didn't take a rocket scientist to see it was probably stolen). I called the cops, reported the incident and gave them the make and model of the van and the plate number. Nothing happenned.

That same year I got a ticket for not having my insurance sticker on my liscence plate (I had just renewed and it was pouring rain). I also saw a cop walking down the street looking into cars to see if they had thier parking brake on and giving tickets to those who didn't.

Priorities I guess

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[Adriandavies 0]

For someone who reportedly doesn't go out of his way to knock Great Britain you seem to spend a hell of a lot of time looking for articles which point out things which are wrong with the country.

Well at least this article has nothing to do with guns for a change.

[kallend 1,651]

The teenager who snatched my ex-wife's purse was caught with it by the Chicago police, who then proceeded to let him go.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[skycop 0]

It's the vast right wing conspiracy against you doc...................

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[kallend 1,651]

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It's the vast right wing conspiracy against you doc...................

I thought it was just laziness on the cops' part, but maybe you're right.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[skycop 0]

I think you were probably disappointed that they snatched your ex-wife's purse............instead if her (at least that's why I'd be bummed).....

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[kallend 1,651]

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I think you were probably disappointed that they snatched your ex-wife's purse............instead if her (at least that's why I'd be bummed).....

She wasn't "ex" at the time.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[skycop 0]

That 'splains it...........

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[freethefly 6]

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Makes sense, police don't give a shit about home burglaries if only stuff was taken and nobody physically hurt, and no obvious evidence as to who did it.

My house was burglarized in San Diego back in 83. A detective by the name of Fellows called me several months later saying he found my Les Paul and my scuba gear. He also knew who who did it. More than a year later he caught up with the guy and made an arrest. The D.A. flew me back to SD and put me up in the Holiday Inn downtown for the trial.
Sometimes they really do their job.
Now, when my truck was stolen in Mississippi, I was told there was no chance that it would ever be found. I guess that was their way of saying they were never going to look for it.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[JohnRich 4]

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For someone who reportedly doesn't go out of his way to knock Great Britain you seem to spend a hell of a lot of time looking for articles which point out things which are wrong with the country. Well at least this article has nothing to do with guns for a change.

I made no mention of what country was involved. You had to follow the link and read the story to find out. Thus, it was a generic example of this police behavior, for purposes of starting a discussion on it, and not targeted specifically to make the UK look bad.

I didn't go looking for the article, it appeared in my scan while doing reading on a different subject matter.

I haven't started a gun thread in over three weeks.

Your stereotype of me is bunk.

[kallend 1,651]

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[reply}

I haven't started a gun thread in over three weeks.
.

Wow! Are you in a 12 step program or something?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[jm951 0]

Upshot of the article- your best defense is yourself, don't rely on the cops for anything past speed traps and doughnuts.

[freethefly 6]

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Upshot of the article- your best defense is yourself, don't rely on the cops for anything past speed traps and doughnuts.

My nephew is a cop in Lenexa Ks.. He never eats donuts however, Taco Bell is probably the safest place to be when he is on duty.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[crozby 0]

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Upshot of the article- your best defense is yourself, don't rely on the cops for anything past speed traps and doughnuts.

Fine, except that our taxes are paying them to be hopeless.

This article is spot on in my experience. I was on the end of a number of crimes during my 10 years in London and all the police ever did was send me a letter stating "Dear Sir, We are sorry to hear you are the victim of a crime ... blah, blah, blah, ... here are the details of a counselling service to help you get over it".

However, in their defence I read somewhere that it takes at least 4 hours to process anyone they arrest and more often than not the criminals get let off by the courts later anyway (or rather they get into an endless cycle of not turning up to court and getting re-arrested), so its hardly surprising the police aren't very enthusiastic.