Disturbing police report

There was an amazing, indeed disturbing report on the BBC's website yesterday. It said:

"Victims of crime are being "encouraged" to investigate offences themselves, an inspection of police forces in England and Wales has found.

"HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said criminal damage and car crime were "on the verge of being decriminalised" because forces had "almost given up".

"In some cases victims were asked to check for CCTV or fingerprints.

"The Association of Chief Police Officers said austerity meant forces had to set priorities.

"Nineteen forces couldn't even tell us what crimes they attended or didn't"
The review also found that police community support officers were being used as "detectives" in some forces.

"The inspector who led the review, Roger Baker, said: "It's more a mindset, that we no longer deal with these things. And effectively what's happened is a number of crimes are on the verge of being decriminalised."

"He added: "So it's not the fault of the individual staff; it's a mindset thing that's crept in to policing to say 'we've almost given up'."

"This is a devastating report for the police because it appears to confirm what many of us have experienced over the years – that there are some crimes police simply don't attempt to investigate.

"The report's authors aren't saying officers should be sent to every report of a stolen car stereo or broken window (though six forces do). They accept some cases take priority and others don't require police to attend.

"But they're deeply concerned about a drift towards ignoring vast categories of offences which, if tackled, could lead to the identification of the perpetrators, with money and time saved later on.

"The use of police community support officers as detectives and the encouragement of householders to do their own CID work, as a substitute for proper investigation, might lead some to conclude that this is all about budget cuts.

"But those who compiled the review say these trends set in some years before that.

"Victims of high-volume offences such as vehicle crime and "burglaries of properties other than dwellings" were asked questions by call-handlers to assess the likelihood of the crime being solved, inspectors found.

"HMIC said that in some forces, if they did not know the answers to those questions, they were "asked to speak to neighbours, check for CCTV or view second-hand sales websites to see if their stolen property is being advertised for sale".

Cheshire Police response

AudlemOnline wondered if this report's findings applies to Cheshire Police. Indeed following the HMIC report, Chief Constable Simon Byrne took to social media to tweet his promise to every victim of crime "We Come To You".

Cheshire Police have since gone on to say: "On 1st August 2014 Cheshire Constabulary launched its new Public Assistance Service Standard (PASS) Policy which governs how we respond to public calls for assistance. This provides the guidance for call takers and response officers on what is an emergency and how to respond.

"The new policy makes a strong commitment to respond to all emergencies within 15 minutes and as a result we are getting to people faster when they really need us, say the force."

They add that: "As well as improving our emergency response we are also providing a more user friendly service for non-emergencies and have introduced scheduled appointments where people need them."

"It's really important that the public of Cheshire know that if they want or need to see a police officer we will endeavour to be there for them when they need us, where they needs us", concluded Cheshire Police's response.

And doubtless Police Commissioners and Chief Constables across the land are saying this Police Inspectorate report's conclusions do not apply to their force.

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