The leader of Britain’s police chiefs has challenged the new home secretary to improve health and social care in England and Wales to enable officers to focus on crime, as he promised police would attend all home burglaries.
Martin Hewitt, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said 64% of emergency calls to the police were not about crime, with a “substantial proportion” resulting in police stepping in to do health and social work because of an absence of other services.
“We’re asking government to seriously take on the vast widening of the policing mission,” said Hewitt. “We want to focus more on solving crime. The public want the same. And so do politicians. We have been discussing this for years and there has been no meaningful change – there needs to be for us to improve crime rates.”
Hewitt acknowledged that trust in the police has plummeted, saying the commitment to tackling burglaries was aimed at building public confidence.
Only 5.6% of offences in England and Wales in 2021-22 – about one in 18 – resulted in a charge or summons, down from 7.1%, or one in 14, in 2020-21, according to Home Office figures published in July.
Hewitt said burglary was “invasive and can be deeply traumatic” and acknowledged some police chiefs were struggling to attend all reported burglaries “with limited resources and balancing an increase in complex and highly harmful crimes”.
Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: “We want to give people the peace of mind of knowing if you experience that invasion, the police will come, find all possible evidence and make every effort to catch those responsible. That’s a critical part of the contract between the police and public.”
Earlier this year, the official police inspectorate found that police were failing victims of burglary and theft, missing chances to catch thieves, leading to lack of confidence in forces.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said austerity was a factor, leaving inexperienced officers to deal with burglaries, with a dire shortage of trained detectives meaning they had to focus on more serious crimes. Only 6.6% of robberies and 4% of thefts led to a charge.
Last week, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was unacceptable that the proportion of reported burglaries attended by an officer had fallen to 50%.
“We’re never going to turn up to every single crime, and the public understand that, but something as severe as burglary needs a proper policing response. It’s too serious an intrusion not to have somebody turn up,” he said.
Hewitt also called for an overhaul of crime recording, saying a burglary of someone’s family home was treated the same as the loss of a spade from a shed. “There must be a better way,” he said.
Hewitt said the police and government needed to work together to agree what, at heart, the police were there to do. “We don’t currently have this shared view of our core services and as a result priorities can change with the wind,” he said.
