Met chief Cressida Dick says number of crimes being solved is 'woeful'

The top police officer in the country has admitted that the number of crimes being solved across the UK is ‘woeful’.

Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick said ‘I’m not proud’ that fewer offenders are facing punishment amid rising crime.

She spoke out about the ‘low’ number of criminals being prosecuted, adding that it did not reflect well on law enforcers. In an extraordinary indictment, Miss Dick said: ‘I am worried about the criminal justice system – the volume and complexity of crime is rising yet fewer people are appearing at court.

‘That is something none of us in the criminal justice system should be proud of. I am not proud of it.’ Miss Dick added that justice was ‘slowing down’ as it was taking far longer for officers to solve crimes due to the mass of digital evidence that now has to be analysed.

She said forces were having to ‘prioritise’ which crimes to investigate due to officers struggling with the record volume of offences being reported.

Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick, pictured, has admitted that the number of crimes being solved across the UK is ‘woeful’

Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick, pictured, has admitted that the number of crimes being solved across the UK is ‘woeful’

Her comments come after a Mail investigation earlier this year revealed that forces are routinely failing to investigate up to half of alleged crimes, with many offences being ‘screened out’ within 24 hours of being reported.

It means huge numbers of offenders – including rapists, thugs, burglars and thieves – have escaped justice and are free on the streets.

Crime recorded by police is at a 14-year high, yet detections have fallen in many crime types and the number of people formally dealt with by the criminal justice system fell last year to the lowest level since 1970.

Brazen burglary caught on CCTV 

Two bungling burglary suspects are caught on crystal-clear CCTV breaking into a house in broad daylight.

At least one of their faces could easily be seen as they forced their way in armed with crowbars. The footage shows them jumping over a fence to avoid CCTV at the front of the property – unaware they are being filmed by a camera in the back garden.

They then force open a kitchen window to get into the house in Netherton, West Midlands, on June 16. The pair spent 30 minutes inside before fleeing with a gold ring, cash and a passport. Police released the video in a bid to catch the hooded suspects who struck at around 8.40pm.

The footage has also been viewed thousands of times on social media. Anyone with information can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. 

Incredibly, police charge a suspect in fewer than one in ten crimes – meaning thousands of culprits escape scot-free. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner addressed the state of British policing in the Police Foundation’s John Harris memorial lecture.

She suggested officers may need a ‘magic wand’ to boost national crime

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