Police forces to pledge to investigate EVERY crime with a ‘reasonable lead’ after years of officers doing the ‘bare minimum’

• Lack of investigation into crimes like shoplifting has decriminalised offences
• But now the Home Office says police should have to investigate all reports
• READ MORE: Shoplifting gangs turning Britain’s supermarkets into ‘battlefields’

Police forces will pledge that they will investigate every crime that has a ‘reasonable lead’ after years of officers not dealing with less serious offences.

Some forces have been doing the ‘bare minimum’ to investigate offences such as vehicle and bicycle theft, shoplifting, and criminal damage to the point that they have effectively been decriminalised.

But now ministers want police to sharply improve the rates of solving these crimes that affect huge numbers of Britons every day.

Police chiefs will promise that officers will investigate every reported crime that has an avenue to gather evidence, such as doorbell and CCTV footage, GPS trackers or eyewitness accounts, The Times reports.

Savage cuts to policing budgets taken during Tory austerity has meant many forces have given up in pursuing solving some of the most frequently occurring crimes.

Police forces have pledged that they will investigate every crime that has a ‘reasonable lead’ after years of officers not dealing with less serious offences (Co-op store targeted by thieves)

This was the moment a gang of thieves used a fleet of stolen Land Rovers including a car belonging to Richard E Grant to smash into jewellery shops, banks and petrol stations in a huge crime spree

Constabularies will readily refuse to investigate crimes based on arbitrary figures, even if there is evidence to follow up – for example, some will not investigate shoplifting cases where less than £50 of goods were stolen.

READ MORE: Violent shoplifting gangs given the ‘freedom to loot’ by lax policing has left staff living under a reign of terror from armed thugs with almost 1,000 incidents a day, store bosses warn

From January to March this year, police forces only charged suspects in two per cent of car and bike thefts, only three per cent of less serious assaults and just four per cent of both residential burglary and criminal damage cases.

Some forces only do the ‘bare minimum’ to investigate some crimes, senior sources within the police told the Times newspaper.

They added that treating common crimes as ‘low-level’ and in isolation ignored the major impact they had on the victims’ lives as well as the possibilities of organised gangs.

As the next election looms, most the the public believe the police do not bother investigating less serious crimes, according to polls.

And earlier this week, the Co-op supermarket revealed they had recorded the highest levels of shoplifting in their history and planted the blame squarely on the police for not catching violent gangs who had been given ‘freedom to loot’.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has announced plans to reduce police paperwork and wants forces to use the time to increase patrols and investigations. And forces this year promised to send an officer to all burglaries.

It is expected that the announcement on forces having to investigate every crime will come in a few weeks pending an agreement between the Home Office, police chiefs and the elected police and crime commissioners.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has announced plans to reduce police paperwork and wants forces to use the time to increase patrols and investigations

Some forces have been doing the ‘bare minimum’ to investigate offences such as vehicle and bicycle theft, shoplifting, and criminal damage to the point that they have effectively been decriminalised (file photo)

Thieves targeting a Co-op  supermarket as the chain accuses police of giving them ‘freedom to loot’

The new rules will take inspiration from a scheme in Greater Manchester after chief constable Steve Watson brought the force out of special measures.

He said in May 2021 that officers would have to investigate every reported crime and investigate all reasonable lines of inquiry.

And since then, GMP has seen a 38 per cent rise in burglary charges, a 22 per cent increase in robbery charges, and a 53 per cent increase in vehicle theft charges.

Conservative PCC Lisa Townsend said ‘we mustn’t tolerate this idea that there are some crimes we don’t investigate, as they have a huge impact on our communities.’

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