Faced with a 7.5 per cent surge in crime one would expect the country’s largest police force to be swamped with investigations.
But it turns out Met Police has responded to the swell in criminal activity by looking into even fewer cases than before.
New data shows it has responded to the rise in crime by giving up on 9,000 cases a month.
Last September Met Police announced it would stop investigating low-level crimes such as car crime and criminal damage (pictured Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick)
Last September Met Police announced it would stop investigating low-level crimes such as car crime and criminal damage.
As a result police officers in the capital are allowing thousands of crimes to go unexamined and criminals unpunished.
There were 37,370 fewer cases investigated between September and December last year when compared with the same period in 2016, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Sun.
Just 33 per cent of burglaries were followed through with a proper investigation – a drop of 51 per cent from the previous year.
There were 37,370 fewer cases investigated between September and December last year when compared with the same period in 2016, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Sun
This is despite robberies rising by 40 per cent in the past year.
Mick Neville, an ex-Met Police DCI, ridiculed his former police force.
He said: ‘Police are waving the white flag at crimes.
‘There is little doubt other forces will follow’.
Under the new system crimes involving a loss of under £50, minor assaults and car crime are only investigated if a suspect is already identified.
And CCTV is only scanned for crimes that require less than 20 minutes’ viewing time.
Burglaries are also only investigated if the criminal used violence or deceit to trick their way in.
The decision to stop investigating minor crimes is part of a plan to save £400 million by 2020.
Mark Simmons, deputy assistant commissioner at Met Police, defended his force’s decision by claiming it was forced ‘to balance the books with fewer officers and less money’.