Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s commitment to attend all dwelling burglaries has seen some positive results, with the number of criminals charged with burglary up year-on-year.
In September 2022, the Force made a commitment that officers would attend every single dwelling burglary report received.
Now, it has been revealed that in the first 3 months of 2023, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary secured 44 burglary charges, compared to 36 in the first 3 months of 2022.
Furthermore, the number of reported burglaries across the 2 regions is said to have decreased. When comparing data from April 2022 to April 2023, against the previous 12 months, there were 5,653 burglary reports – a reduction of 197 (-3.4%) against the 2021-22 total of 5,850.
Detective Superintendent Tina Lowe has said:
“We’re pleased that we have maintained our burglary attendance levels since the commitment was made to our communities last September ahead of a national adoption of the same approach later that month. However there is always more work to be done to tackle there kinds of offences. In a small number of cases it may be impractical for us to attend due to the length of time since the offence took place, or for example if the victim has a specific reason as to why they do not wish for us to attend because they would prefer instead to speak to officers at a police station.
“Our aims are to continue to reduce the number of burglaries taking place, charge more suspects, and ensure that victims receive a consistently high level of service in our response.
“As part of our commitment we have continued to invest in our teams that investigate burglary and have upskilled those officers that initially attend so that we can make the most of the lines of enquiry available at the earliest opportunity. This has translated into an increase in the number of burglaries that we solve, although forensic work can take some time to build into a case that is ready to take to court, so these figures should continue to improve over coming months.
Article continues below this advertisement “Every deployment is an opportunity to capture evidence, identify lines of enquiry and capture offenders and increase the number of cases in which formal action is taken. We also recognise that this approach helps victims to feel safer in their homes, which is a cornerstone of victim-focused policing. Our investigations will also allow us to clearly see links to other forms of criminality, such as drug supply or organised crime. By attending all residential dwelling burglary reports, we are sending a very clear message that we will not tolerate these crimes. We want to give ourselves the very best opportunity to disrupt and deter crime, and catch those criminals who are responsible”.
Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones adds:
“As Commissioner, I made sure Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary was the first force in the country to make the commitment to attend every burglary because this is about getting the first response right.
“Whilst I’m pleased burglary reports have gone down and charges have gone up, the increase in charge rates isn’t good enough.
“Attending all burglaries is what victims of crime rightly expect, but it is only one part of the process. Investigations must be improved and expedited.
“I am speaking with the chief constable regularly to see where these improvements can be made over the coming months.”
If you include all the cyber crime (identity theft where they take a loan out in your name) UK crime is at the highest it has been in twenty years. So much for the Tories being the law and order party. Half the police force double the crime.
44 burglary charges after 5653 reports!!!! Good grief! Think I will be investing in a security camera and a baseball bat if this is the best the police can do. They need to get off their posteriors and patrol the streets.
It took ten days for the police to respond to our break in…not going to catch a thief with that lackadaisical attitude.
If the police spent any time in the community, they would know perfectly well what is going on and who is doing burglaries. Just like they used to.
People catch colds quicker
44 burglary charges in first 3 months of 2023 against an average of 1413 reported for the same period means that about one quarter resulted in a prosecution. No doubt there were some that resulted in some other form of resolution. It would be more useful if the number of unsolved burglaries was published (I am not aware whether that figure is available on the police web site)
Anyone who tries coming into mine will probably be met with reasonable force… You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?