Furious campaigners have claimed burglary has been "decriminalised" after figures showed nearly half of burglaries across neighbourhoods in England and Wales remain unsolved.
Despite police pledging to attend every domestic break-in, officers failed to solve burglaries in 48 per cent of neighbourhoods - areas consisting of 1,000 to 3,000 people - over the past three years.
Many have been left angry over the new data, including former victims’ commissioner Dame Vera Baird, who has suggesting burgling somebody’s home is now like a "free hit".
It comes after police chiefs in England and Wales promised to attend the scene of every burglary in October 2022.
Nearly half of burglaries across neighbourhoods in England and Wales over the past three years remain unsolved (stock image)
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However, statistics show that the number of charges made following a burglary fell the following year to 3.9 per cent from 4.6 per cent in 2022.
Baird slammed the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s pledge to boost detection rates as "an empty gesture" in parts of Britain.
"What these figures show is that in half of the neighbourhoods, burgling somebody’s home is a free hit. The criminal can walk away with the proceeds and never look back," she told The Telegraph.
"Burglary can be very very upsetting and traumatising; it can make people afraid to go out in case it happens again and afraid to stay at home for the very same reason.
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"Why are there no arrests, no prosecutions and no deterrence in almost half of all these cases?"
In the worst hit areas - which cover up to 6,000 people - more than 150 cases have gone unsolved in the past three years.
Harvey Redgrave, chief executive of crime consultancy Crest Advisory, said: "It is of real concern that despite the high-profile commitment to attend the scene of every burglary, the police do not appear to be improving the rate at which burglaries are solved and offenders brought to justice.
"Public confidence in the police will not improve unless victims believe reporting crime will make a difference.
"These statistics also reinforce the need for a cross-government strategy to deal with the minority of highly prolific offenders who are responsible for a large proportion of burglaries and theft more widely."
In the worst hit areas - which cover up to 6,000 people - more than 150 cases have gone unsolved in the past three years
NECAccording to the figures, the worst-performing force, Hertfordshire, saw just 2.2 per cent of burglaries – just over one in 50 – resulting in a charge last year.
Just under three quarters of police forces saw a fall in their charging rates for burglary in the past year.
However, there was a fall in the overall number of break-ins.
Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for burglary, said the 2022 pledge was "only the first step" in improving detection rates.
He said: "The latest national data shows that nationally burglary incidents have once again reduced, following a five-year trend and while outcomes are still lower than we would want them to be, there has been a positive shift in the right direction."