OFFICER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT LOW POLICE MORALE

LOW morale, not enough officers and a failing justice system are among the sentiments of rank and file police, a serving officer said today.The experienced officer did not want to be named, but spoke out amid a backdrop of crushing financial pressure from the government for the constabulary to slash millions of pounds from its budget. 

The modern police service faces many more challenges to its morale than ever before and many of the matters talked of here echo the sentiment of other articles from these pages. If the escalating problem of low police morale is the effect, what are the causes? 

Behind the scenes at this site, we are compiling hundreds of examples of officers voicing the same concerns about the decline of the service they love. The problem is not confined to a few disillusioned officers in small pockets of the country. This is a growing problem across all police forces in the UK, from an ever increasing number of rank and file frontline troops.

The balanced observations of one front line officer sum it up well. 

A POLICE OFFICERS VIEW FROM THE STREET

“I still love the job as much as I did when I first joined, but things have changed and not necessarily for the better. We see many times in the course of our careers all that is wrong with society and how inhuman people can be. Often a smile or joke can be a release valve. It seems more and more that we are not allowed an opinion or a sense of humour.

One thing that I have noticed more than anything is morale. I have never seen it so low. I talk to officers with five to six years service counting down the time they have left and that should not be.

My opinion for it being so low is down to a number of things; staff shortages, excessive workloads, a feeling of being let down by a seemingly uncaring senior hierarchy, the inability of the service in general to stand up for itself, and being let down by the judicial system.

I can say hand on heart that the vast majority of officers I have worked with over many years have been professional, caring, keen, and take great delight in locking up the bad guys.

On staff shortages, if you read the headlines from certain quarters they say we have no staff shortage problems. If the general public really knew that almost on a weekly basis and in some case daily, major towns have no officers to deploy to incidents as they are tied up on jobs or stuck in the custody areas.

It is not uncommon for officers to be drafted in from other areas leaving them short of cover, with specialist departments being used to backfill. Custody is regularly filled so that detained persons are taken to other stations. If this is the case then two officers are sent for escort and booking in.

Then the amount of time the booking in process takes, and then if that person is deemed as at risk he/she is put under constant supervision with a police officer. That means yet another officer down. You don't have to be brilliant at maths to see what the consequences are especially when I have known up to three constants on the go at the same time.

Officers who take crime reports are then allocated them to investigate. Obviously the more serious and involved are taken up by CID. As you can imagine an officer is not just given a couple to sort out but the list can be quite extensive.

The problem is that the list will continue to grow as more and more are allocated to that officer. With all the best will and dedication in the world some are not going to be investigated perhaps as fully as they could be.

This is not because the officer does not care. With time restraints and supervisory pressure, workloads must be trimmed. And I think you can guess the consequences.

The fact that a lot of offenders do not go to court is not down to the individual investigating officer or the service. It is down to the government department charged with prosecuting of suspects at court. They too have pressure to increase their conviction rates, so if they are not satisfied that there is a more than good possibility of a conviction they drop it straight away.

This is despite all the paperwork submitted, numerous interviews, and sometimes compelling evidence in the officers' eyes - and, most important of all, the expectations of the victim.

It does seem to be that before long they will only take on the guilty pleas.

Do I feel that we at times let the victim down? Yes. But we are not entirely to blame, the system is. I believe the system is squarely on the side of the offender rather than the victim. The younger and persistent offenders I come into contact with have no fear of the system or its punishments.

They look on young offenders' institutions as a holiday camp where they get free food, free games, free gym membership and are even allowed to keep together with their friends. They do what ever they like, when they like.

As police officers we are paid a good wage, and I for one have enjoyed every minute of it. I love my job and the satisfaction of getting a good result for the people who we serve. I feel the senior hierarchy needs to back us more and listen, not just preach. Yes, like all organisations or firms money is tight and cuts and financial savings have to be made, but not at the expense of the officers on the beat who are the backbone of the service and the ones getting the flak day after day on the streets.

We are the ones that have to face the job and all it entails face on and not from the comfort of a desk.”

Source : http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/

To read the full article, comments from his Chief Constable and Crown Prosecution Service click here.

COMMENT

Critical areas of police service policy and procedure is not only affecting officers morale. Many of the problems highlighted here are having a severly detrimental effect on public confidence in the police as a whole. Regrettably, the front line bobby is the thin blue line where the public aim their dissatisfaction. The target should really be the politicians and senior officers who set the policy these officers have to work with.

The general public want to see a more visible police presence, improved response times and common sense policing. Despite protestations from the Government to the contrary, there remains an excessive "performance culture" within the job. Combined with a lack of discretionary policing this has resulted in a service that is more consumed with political correctness and meeting statistical targets than the 'back to basics policing' the public and front line officers would like to see.

A disproportionate amount of time and resource is wasted on issues that affect a minority of the public. Meanwhile, the Government and senior officers perpetuate the the 'con' about declining crime figures and rising public confidence. The general public are not stupid. They are not taken in by statistics that are manipulated for the media or surveys that are not representative of the real public view.

The time for transparency is now. Clear the decks. Accept that the service has become swamped with bureaucracy and the quality of our society needs fixing fast if the country is not to slip into irreversible moral decline.

This will not happen within the time left with this Government. It seem likely that another party will be in power before any significant change will be seen. Will they be any different? For as long as politicians keep using crime and policing as a convenient political football to grow their overstaffed and excessive empires, then the answer is no.

A radical, honest and transparent approach is needed if public and police confidence is to be restored.

Acceptance that a system is not working is a first step. Forget blame, we don't care what or who caused it, we just want it fixed. Learn the lessons that are staring us in the face. Dismiss the performance culture policing, listen, HEAR and ACT upon what the front line coppers are telling us is inherently wrong with the service. Make every effort to eliminate committees and projects that detract from basics. Reverse the trend of spending 90% of the time and resource planning how you will improve things and 10% of  the time actually doing it. Stop giving us statistics and headlines we stopped trusting long ago. Give the police their dicretional common sense freedom that will enable them to do the job they joined for.

Are there any politicians and senior officers courageous enough to take the action needed? 


Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

GORDON BROWN ... LET THE POLICE GET BACK TO BASICS

Posted as a reply to a post on Inspector Gadgets site

http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/the-single-measure-of-public-confidence/

Drastic measures need to be introduced so that coppers can “get back to basics” and do the job they really want to do, lock up villains and protect the public.

All the flow chart based strategies and “flavour of the month” schemes may keep the SMT (Senior Management Teams) and they who must be obeyed at the Home Office behind their nice little desks, but they are a major distraction to the basics of what police officers join the job to do and what the public expects.

None of the blame for this state of our society lies at the door of the front line copper, who can only do their best with the tools they are given. The problem lies in the “empire building” culture from above. Politicians are the worlds worst for it and their influence is obvious as it cascades down the SMT ranks.

It’s the front line troops who end up having to face all the crap that these ideas and strategies create.

The challenge is dismantling the bureaucratic politically driven machine. If the front liners are not included in the process, the likely outcome will be an even greater more complex bureacratic machine to manage away the bureaucracy it was intended to eliminate! Let’s hope Jan Berry is possessed with enough common sense principles to stop the rot.

She has a mountain to climb in that she has the problems to solve quickly, and an interfering headline seeking Government to impede her progress.

In business, if a company takes its eye off the basics, it goes bump. Sooner or later, it is forced to address what distracts them from the core activity of generating cash and profit.

In a similar vein regarding police activity, the common thread seems to be to eliminate all distractions that keep officers away from what they do best and joined to do, to be out there on the street doing the basics. The rest is just distracting peripheral crap that adds liitle or no value.

The public don’t want to hear phoney headlines drawn from surveys, they want coppers out there, as much as possible, preventing crime and making their patch a safer place to be.

A certain amount of admin is necessary, but the duplicated effort, the pointless collection of unecessary data “just in case”, the time wasted on schemes and initiatives, and the excessive allocation of resources to non operational policing, seem to be a major distraction.

Public support will return slowly, when someone at a high level recognises the urgency of getting back to basics, stops the talking and planning, and makes it bloody well happen. When the public sees better responses, with the elimination of al the crap that gets in the way of justice being served AND seen to be served, there will be little or no need for further initiatives, surveys and the rest of the mintutae that is killing the job.

Off topic but all credit to Paul McGeever at the Federation for his letter to Gordon Brown yesterday about the Yvonne Fletcher/ Libyan trade deal debaucle. We posted support and a copy of his letter on this site where you can also see his letter to GB.

http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com/2009/09/police-federation-letter-to-gordon.html

Crime Analyst Team
Nice 1 Limited

POLICE FEDERATION LETTER TO GORDON BROWN RE MURDER OF WPC YVONNE FLETCHER

http://www.polfed.org/Letter_to_Rt_Hon_Gordon_Brown_RE_Yvonne_Fletcher_150909.pdf

The team at Nice 1 Ltd, would like to take this opportunity to endorse the sentiments contained in the letter by Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation, addressed to Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

The letter details the Federation dismay and disgust at the recent disclosure of the Government deal that traded justice for the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher in return for commercial gain.

To see the letter in full click here or the link pasted above.

Never mind the question of public faith and confidence in its police service, only a complete reversal of this decision would go some way to restoring any remnants of confidence in Mr Brown at this stage.

Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

OPEN LETTER TO RT HON CHRIS GRAYLING MP - SHADOW HOME SECRETARY

Nice 1 Limited have today written to the Shadow Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, outlining some of the concerns felt by the authors of this site, many serving, retired and former police officers and associated personnel, and many supportive members of the public.

As the first approach letter on the subject of this and other sites, detail of the concerns over the state of crime and policing in the UK have not been included at this stage.

The letter invites Mr Grayling to digest information on presently on this site that will be updated over coming weeks and months with articles, features and analysis reports. We urge him to adopt a transparent strategy if and when he assumes the office of Home Secretary in the future.

Any replies will be documented on these pages and should there be a lack of response, we will look to start directing more detailed messages on these subjects to those that will put their shoulder behind the drive for change.

To read the letter in full click here

Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

WPC YVONNE FLETCHER - A GROWING SENSE OF DISGUST WITH THE GOVERNMENT

Following our post earlier this week about the Government bargaining away justice for the killer of WPC Fletcher, there have been a number of press articles expressing national dismay at the scandalous action taken.

"Gaddafi embraces Lockerbie bomber and thanks his 'courageous friend' Gordon Brown for releasing him"


Read the article in the Daily Mail by clicking here The shocking story will undoubtedly upset you as much as it did us.

And here are a few more on the same theme . . . .

Government 'sold its soul' over Libya trade deals, claim poilce


Telegraph.co.uk
The Government "sold its soul for trade deals" with Libya by agreeing that the killer of PC Yvonne Fletcher will not be tried in Britain, police officers ...
 
Police Federation: Labour has 'sold its soul' over Lybia deals ...


From the excellent Cranmer Remember New Labour's 'ethical foreign policy'? Remember Robin Cook's Sermon in the Foreign Office – a mission ......

Politicians urge Gaddafi to offer visas to Yvonne Fletcher police

Times Online

A group of MPs and peers will fly to Libya this month to try to persuade Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to provide visas to the Metropolitan Police to track down ...


When you read of the deal that was struck, and the connections referred to in these articles, regardless of whether you are supportive of the British Police, you will get an insight into the lack of integrity, conscience and morality that exists in the present Government.

How can we trust anything that emerges from this shower of treacherous creatures?

Yvonne. You paid the ultimate price that could be paid by a Police Officer. The majority of British public are grateful to you. It's unfortunate that the people in power seem unable to display the appropriate sense of decency and respect for your memory.

May you rest in peace.

Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

THE TRUTH ABOUT CRIME & POLICING IN THE UK

Click above image to view full size

The Crime Analysis Team at Nice 1 are collating articles that will be published on these pages over the forthcoming weeks.

The articles will detail many of the "home truths" about crime recording and reporting, and the bureacratic and procedural obtsructions to officers providing the public with a better service. The articles will show that front line officers are frustrated at ridiculously excessive paperwork and processes that inhibit their ability to be truly effective.

Manipulated statistics and detection policies combined with excessive influence from politically correct committees and strategy teams, have turned the average officer into a box ticking, form filling adminstrator, who is in constant and non-sensical fear of being tripped up over administrative and procedural errors.

The vast majority of UK police officers are conscientious people who want to provide the very best service they can for the general public. These pages will show how, over many years, a web of deceit has been built around the real conditions faced by these officers in their attempt to perform their duty.

Grass roots police officers are indoctrinated into protecting themselves against nuwarranted attack from both their senior management teams (SMT's) and the very system they are forced to implement. As a consequence, you and I, the average UK citizen, are being deprived of the protection and response our millions in taxes is paying for.

Who are the culprits? Certainly not in the main, the bobby on the street, (the few that remain). Some (not all) senior officers, Home Office officials and politicians have combined down the years to create the flaws and inadequacies that exist within the service today, for their own purposes of political, career and financial advancement. The rot unfortunately, is not confined to the police service. The UK criminal justice system is severely flawed in many areas.

All is not as rosy as presented in Government and judicial headlines. It is not in their interest to reveal the truth of their systematic failures to the public, particularly not in the twelve months leading up to a general election.

Through these pages, we will present the information as we discover it for you to make up your own mind. We will, where appropriate lobby officials, raise questions, conduct polls, national surveys and petitions.

"Res Ipsa Loquitur" is latin for"let the facts speak for themselves".  We will present the information that will speak for itself.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first steps. The first steps that will be taken from this site will aim to bring this information to the forefront of public attention. We are not so unrealistic as to believe that we alone can bring about dramatic political and procedural change. Our aim is to encourage informed public debate about these subjects which affect the wellbeing of our society. Complete transparency for subjects that are within the public interest that do not conflict with matters of state and national security is a worthwhile goal.

Bookmark these pages and this site to keep informed of the progress. If you wish to contribute, we will understand that you may consider the content contraversial and that you may wish to remain anonymous with your submissions, through this or other sites we are monitoring.

The Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

MURDER OF WPC FLETCHER - UK GOVT BETRAYED HER MEMORY

Libya deal saved WPC's killer from UK trial

Times Online

THE murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London was one of the most shocking police killings of the past 25 years.

It has now emerged that just as her police colleagues were calling for the killer to face justice in the UK, Foreign Office ministers secretly agreed that he should face trial only in Libya. The controversial agreement was signed as Tripoli was preparing to grant lucrative contracts to British oil and gas firms.

 

To read the full article click here
 
There is a video in the article where a Libyan Official is coaxed into expressing regret at the incident.
Well that makes it alright then . . . . . .
 
 

 
I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels more than a little sick, angry and disgusted having read the article, seen these photographs splashed across the world, then read the Times article about "Mr" Mandelson, his wealthy friends and the Libyan connection read it here 
 
WHAT HAS THIS COUNTRY COME TO, THAT THE MURDER OF A SERVING POLICE OFFICER BY A TERRORIST ORGANISATION CAN BE SO EASILY FORGOTTEN?
 
Lest we forget.
 
God Bless You Yvonne
 
There are those of us who remember and respect your memory.
 
Rest In Peace

POLICE REVIEW ARTICLES THIS WEEK

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/907db0fc#/907db0fc/1

POLICE REVIEW INTERACTIVE ONLINE

To read the latest online edition of the Police Review, click the link above.


Here are a few articles from the newsbrief alerts. All originally posted to http://jpr.janes.com/ where they may be viewed in full if you are a Police Review subscriber.

'Interfering politicians put service at risk'

POLITICAL interference in policing will damage the service's reputation 'beyond repair', the president of the Superintendents' Association warned this week. Ian Johnston issued a stark warning about politicians meddling in policing, adding that the operational independence of chief officers is at risk.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

No politics in policing, says head of ACPO

POLITICS should play no part in the operational delivery of policing, the new ACPO president has said. Speaking this weekend, Sir Hugh Orde rubbished claims the Met was being controlled by the Conservative Party.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

Met denies working to Conservative agenda

THE Met commissioner has hit back at suggestions that the Conservative Party has Scotland Yard 'working to its agenda'. In response to comments made by Kit Malthouse, London's deputy mayor for policing and vice-chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Sir Paul Stephenson said that no political party sets priorities for the Met

[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 04 September 2009]

Partners in crime

Not every police officer enjoys working night shifts - but for Supt Jon Betts they give him a chance to stay connected with the front line and 'get in the thick of it'. Nursing yet another cup of coffee - fuel to help him through the long, unpredictable shifts - he says: 'I love nights
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

Institutional denial

Michael Mansfield QC says he is preparing to 'upset a few people' when he addresses the Police Superintendents' Association of England and Wales next week. He has, of course, previous form for highlighting the faults and failures of the police service while representing the families of Stephen Lawrence and Jean Charles de Menezes, to name but a few
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

QC warns public order cops can become 'possessed' by uniform

THE length of time police officers work together in public order units should be limited to stop a 'mob mentality' from developing among them, one of the country's most high profile lawyers has said. Michael Mansfield QC, who said some officers become 'possessed' when they put on their uniform, suggested a time limit of two years.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

Conference call

The policing White Paper is due to be published later this year. What can police officers expect from this? AnswerThe focus will be on accountability.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 07 September 2009]

Unite and conquer

More than 80 basic command units have been done away with by police forces in England and Wales since 2003 and further reductions look likely. As a result many superintendents are finding themselves in charge of larger and larger areas and responsible for more officers and staff
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

The Station Sergeant

Junk mailI have been sent a leaflet published by the NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency, also known as: No Point In Asking). They have sent out this little gem (see news, page 7), I imagine, as a way of helping us boost the public's confidence
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]


Scottish forces 'should focus on victims'

MORE needs to be done to improve how victims view the Scottish police service, according to the Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland. Bill Skelly, who has headed HMIC for Scotland for four months, told Police Review he was aware of a 'big gap' between the service that victims expect and the service they actually receive.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

End blame culture, says complaints chief

OFFICERS and staff assaulting members of the public and rude bobbies are two of the top complaints levied at Scottish forces, the new head of its policing watchdog has said. John McNeill, the police complaints commissioner for Scotland, revealed the most common complaints before the organisation publishes its annual complaints statistics in the autumn.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

Ploddledygook Hanson aims to upskill recruits

THE requirement for police officers to have degrees to join the job is being considered for potential inclusion in the Government's White Paper on policing, Police Review can reveal. In an exclusive interview this week, David Hanson, police minister, said 'the issue [of police officers having degrees] will probably form part of our discussions about the White Paper' due to be published later this year
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

Anxious and depressed supers must be nursed back to health

THE health and wellbeing of superintendents and chief superintendents in England and Wales is getting 'worse not better', according to their staff association. Supt Robin Jarman, the Superintendents' Association's lead on command resilience, said he is disappointed that superintendents are not taking on more responsibility to improve their own health
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

'Don't ban retired bobbies from working'

THE National Association of Retired Police Officers has hit out at Conservative Party suggestions that retired officers could be barred from rejoining the police service. The association was responding to comments from George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, on the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show last Sunday.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

Knock bosses' heads together, says bureaucracy basher Berry

SENIOR members of the criminal justice system 'need to knock their heads together' and work together to cut policing red tape, the Government's advocate for reducing bureaucracy has said. Jan Berry told Police Review that the criminal justice system 'does not do what it says on the tin' and it needs urgent improvements to reduce bureaucracy.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

APA calls last orders on imbalance of power

THE power-sharing between ACPO, the Home Office and the Association of Police Authorities needs to be rebalanced, the outgoing APA chairman has said. Speaking before he steps down next Wednesday (16 September), Bob Jones told Police Review his association was 'perceived as the weaker' side of the tripartite structure that oversees the police service and that it had to deal with 'considerably less resources' than its counterparts.
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]

Sorry is not the hardest word, says NPIA

'WRITE better letters', 'train staff who hold public meetings' and 'say sorry when you fail' are three of the top tips issued by the National Policing Improvement Agency to help police officers improve public confidence. Police managers have been issued with a list of top tips on how to please the public and hit the Government's single public confidence target, in line with the introduction of its 'policing pledge'
[first posted to http://jpr.janes.com - 09 September 2009]



The Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

PARTY POLITICAL POLICING?

On reading an article in the Independent, we are even more convinced that there is too much political intrusion and embedded influence within the police service at the highest levels.

The Conservative party are proposing that directly elected police commissioners should be introduced to the UK forces, similar to systems that operate in the United States.

Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said he was opposed to the idea and warning that public apathy voting could lead to "lunatics" being elected to take charge of forces.

Whilst there are strong arguments for both sides here, the involvement of Sir Hugh must be questioned.

As a police officer, Sir Hugh is bound by the police regulations as much as all officers of every rank.

THE POLICE (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2004

7. Policy background:

7.1 In carrying out their functions and exercising authority, police officers must be seen to be impartial in their dealings with all sections of the community.

7.2 It is particularly important for maintaining public confidence in policing that the Police Service does all it can to root out police officers and recruits who may have racist views or may be perceived to have racist views. This is particularly important in maintaining confidence in policing of minority ethnic and faith communities.

7.3 Regulation 2(1) provides that members of police forces must not take part in activities which are likely to interfere with the impartial discharge of their duties or are likely to give that impression to members of the public.

7.4 Regulation 2(2) provides that members of police forces shall not take any active part in politics and shall not belong to any organisation proscribed by the Secretary of State

7.5 The Secretary of State has determined that no member of a police force may be a member of the BNP, Combat 18 or National Front.

COMMENT

If the police service are to successfully argue that there should be less political interference, then we would ask if Sir Hugh should "lead by example" and interfere less with party politics?

The voters get the politicians they vote for, with all of its downsides. That is democracy in action. We might not all agree with the views of the far right or left, but then it's down to the electorate to make those decisions through the ballot box.

There are many that will agree with the sentiments expressed by Sir Hugh, and they have the perfect right to that stance. But when a senior police officer becomes involved in future party political issues, the line that separates "Police" and "Politics" becomes distinctly blurred.

We sympathise with Sir Hugh in as much as his concerns are for the policing problems that may result from such a proposal. There are right and wrong ways of getting a message delivered and it must be questioned whether the pages of a national tabloid are the right forum.

Sections 7(1) and (3) seem to be the appropriate items to consider in light of the article.

To read the full article click here

In conclusion, our comments are made here to draw attention to the growing overlap of politics in the police force. We neither condone or condemn the actions of Sir Hugh, but would ask if the potential consequences of his public involvement in the matter, might have an adverse effect on the opinion of the police service in general.


The Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

CRIME STATISTICS HIDE THE TRUTH

Click on image to enlarge

BRITISH CRIME SURVEY OR RECORDED CRIME - WHICH IS RIGHT?We have been looking at the crime statistics released by the Home Office.

Despite having trawled through the guidance notes that accompany the Government statistics, we are at a loss to account for the massive disparities that exist between the British Crime Survey and Police recorded crime.

The Home Office clearly place great importance on the British Crime Survey (BCS), as this quote from the Home Office website confirms :-

"The BCS includes crimes which are not reported to the police, so it is an important alternative to police records. The BCS is a particularly important survey because it can provide a more complete picture of crime than police recorded crime statistics alone. The BCS includes crimes which are not reported to, or recorded by, the police and is therefore unaffected by changes in recording practices. It can provide the best guide to long-term trends in crime".

The crime statistics that tend to hit the headlines are the ones that can most easily be manipulated.

As the above report shows, the tried and trusted BCS figures, reflect a crime rate double that reported to the police. The supporting document goes to great lengths to describe why so many offences are not reported to the police. To download a copy of the report click here

Reports from front line officers, of ridculous levels of bureacracy and procedure confirms what many of the public already suspect, that their effectiveness is severely impaired. This results in a lack of public confidence, not in the bobby on the beat, but in the system of policing in the UK.

The report shows the BCS comparable count and the actual recorded crime for key offences.

It suggests that violence is twice that reported and robbery 5 times the police figure.

5 YEARS ON - NO BETTER

Five years ago, a letter was sent to the London Evening Standard, by PC Norman Brennan, serving as Director of Victims Crime Trust. The letter is reproduced below :-

Crime statistics hide the truth

IT is rare that front-line police officers speak out, but I feel the public has the right to hear us.

When I joined the police service in 1978, there were only 13,150 recorded robberies in England and Wales. Most robberies were reported because of public confidence in the justice system.

Last year, this figure had risen to a massive 101,195 recorded robberies, and the British Crime Survey, the Government’s preferred method of measuring crime, which made your front-page last week (22 July) will show the true figure to be at least double or triple this number.
Murder is at its highest rate since the Second World War. The only reason it is not many times higher is because of the skill of our surgeons.

Although police chiefs are loath to admit it, there are parts of our cities that are, in effect, no-go areas. My colleagues joined the police service to protect and support the public, but they are prevented from doing so now because of huge amounts of political correctness and red tape. We are given so many targets we almost stand still.

Politicians can make statistics look as good or as bad as they want, but the police and the public live in the real world and know the truth. I am amazed even in the latest British Crime Survey, the Government omitted crimes of murder, sex offences, fraud, crime against commercial premises and, more important, crimes against children under 16, who make up a significant proportion of victims of crime.

I believe the situation on law and order is so bad that, to borrow a medical term, it is on a life-support machine. In my personal and professional opinion, the criminal justice system is in crisis. It is not just criminals we should be putting in the dock, but the Government. Mr Blair, you can fool some of people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.

PC Norman Brennan, director, Victims of Crime Trust, Twickenham, Middlesex.

From Blair to Brown, five years later, little has changed, as the report above shows.

Crime is still significantly higher than the authorities would have us believe.

Front line police officers are still discouraged from speaking out about the lack of resources and being buried in paperork and bureaucratic "protect the backside" processes that prevent them performing more effectively.

Politicians still have too great an influence over policing in this country. Having two sources of crime statistics enables politicians to manipulate headline to read exactly how they want, with their own reasond for doing so.

As one officer put it "The police service is living and telling lies at the moment just like MP’s expenses. Someone is going to get caught out soon, but they just don’t get it do they!"

Enough said.

Crime Analysis Team

Nice 1 Limited

FOCUS REPORT : POLICE RESOURCES

The latest report from the crime analysis team at Nice 1 Ltd, looks in some detail at five key areas that affect policing in the UK.

Covering all 43 police forces of England & Wales, the report examines the population figures. force strengths, the proposed force budgets for 2010/2011, recorded offence frequency and counts and detection rates.

To download the full report summary click here or the image above.

The summary brings together for the first time, data from a number of different Home Office reports. With information presented in an at-a-glance format, the reader may quickly see "rankings" by force area, of :-

• Population size - 1st being the force policing the largest population
• Available officers - 1st being the force with the largest strength of officers
• Ratio of officers to population - 1st being the force with highest population per officer
• Proposed budgets - 1st being the force with the largest budget
• Cost of budget per head of population - 1st being the force with the highest per person
• Cost of budget per household - 1st being the force with the highest per household
• Offence frequency - 1st being the force with the highest offence frequency per 1000 population
• Offence count - 1st being the force dealing with highest offence count
• Police detections - 1st being the force with the highest overall detection rate

The report could be examined force by force and detailed observations noted. For brevity here we will highlight just a few that stood out for us :-

Metropolitan : Highest population responsibility, largest number of officers "available", almost the greatest number of officers per head of population, the largest and most expensive budget for the taxpayer, highest offence frequency and count, yet 30th in the table for detections.

Greater Manchester : Similar story here, 3rd largest population, among the highest officer to public ratios, 3rd largest budget, 5th most expensive to the taxpayer, 2nd highest offence frequency and count, yet 35th in the detection league table.

Merseyside : 14th largest population size, 5th largest resource, among highest officer ratio, a top 10 budget force, 10th in the offence frequency and counts, yet they managed a respectable 8th in the detection league.

Northumbria : 13th largest population, 7th highest police resource, 6th best officer to population ratio, 10th highest budget, 11th in cost to the taxpayer, 16th in both offence categories, achieving 4th in the detection rate table.

Clearly each force has its own challenges, with population density, geographic coverage and many more variables that affect the results achieved. Indeed, the Home Office documents from where this information was sourced contain many pages of explanatory notes as to how budgets and officer strength are determined.

The availability of officers is a contraversial area, and it should be noted that the figures reported here are straight lifts from Home Office documents, and do not reflect officers engaged in administrative or strategic planning roles. Whilst counted as available, many work 9-5 shifts and this therefore has a significant impact on the actual numbers of officers available to perform front line duties. Contributions on this subject are welcome.

We would be keen to hear the views of interested readers, police or public to the results.

For those who wish to dig a little deeper, we have included links below to the data reports that sit behind the summary above.

Detailed population vs force strength & ratio report click here

Detailed population vs force budget report click here

Detailed population vs recorded offence report click here

The reports can also be viewed in future from the side bar on the right. (Once this post has been archived).

Future articles will appear from these pages and that of our sister site Car Crime UK, where we will explore further aspects of Home Office and associated authority statistics.

Should you require any further information about the information contained in these reports, please refer to the contact panel at the foot of the page, or e mail us via the link below this article, or click here



The Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Ltd

RECENT POLICE ARTICLES

For a brief insight into the pressures and challenges faced by our police officers on the frontline, here is a selection of recent article extracts from real officers at the coal face of British policing. To read the full postings and comments from other officers, click the links to each article.

http://200weeks.police999.com/

Chief Constables are bullies – fact

Apparently the Superintendents’ Association has been doing some research amongst its members & has found that half of senior officers are stressed & depressed.

A quarter of the 800 officers surveyed reported anxiety symptoms as moderate or severe, more than half complained of working 50-60 hour weeks and 40% reported that senior management’s approach to managing performance was “harsh and unhelpful”, and nearly a third said chief constables showed “bullying behaviour”. Others said stress and depression could be triggered by the exposure to traumatic incidents they encountered during their work. Nearly 40% said they did not have enough resources or staff to do the job effectively.

Welcome to the world of policing in modern Britain.

To read the full article & comments click here

Another lost vote

In another case of the tail wagging the dog the law changed recently to allow two lesbian partners to be named on a child’s birth certificate if the birth was as a result of IVF treatment.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 has made it possible for two women to be named on the birth certificate rather than the mother & father.

Clearly designed to magnify the Labour government’s obsession with diversity credentials it means that the birth certificate becomes a work of fiction rather than a legal document recording the parentage of a child. The birth certificate will no longer record the genetic heritage of a child but the names of a couple who happen to call themselves parents at that specific moment in time. When a marriage or parnership between a mother & father breaks up those two individuals are still the mother & father. When a lesbian civil partnership breaks up at least one half has precisely zero genetic connection to the child.

To read the full article & comments click here

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http://disgruntledcop.blogspot.com/

ACPO support long sentances...

Having read this article it doesn't surprise me one bit that ACPO are spouting incomprehensible rubbish.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196987/Inexcusable-gobbledygook--Verdict-102-word-sentence-drafted-police-chiefs.html

The sentence in question is this:

'The promise of reform which the Green Paper heralds holds much for the public and Service alike; local policing, customised to local need with authentic answerability, strengthened accountabilities at force level through reforms to police authorities and HMIC, performance management at the service of localities with targets and plans tailored to local needs, the end of centrally-engineered one size fits all initiatives, an intelligent approach to cutting red tape through redesign of processes and cultures, a renewed emphasis on strategic development so as to better equip our service to meet the amorphous challenges of managing cross force harms, risks and opportunities.'

Anyone care to translate??

To read the full article & comments click here

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http://pcbloggs.blogspot.com/

Just One Crime

Apparently 1000 of London's CCTV cameras solved only one crime last year.This statistic amazes me. CCTV is pretty much a requisite of any prosecution in Blandmore whatsoever, regardless of the offence. You need only mention to the crown prosecutor to whom you are "selling" your case that the CCTV in a shop/street/dwelling was down/out/non-existent, to see a great sigh appear on their face and a big red pen cross out your hope of a conviction.

To read the full article & comments click here


Victim vs Customer

I've moaned a bit about victim focus recently. Mainly because the Senior Management have been moaning about it, and they tend to delete my email diatribes without responding - whereas they can't delete this without some serious effort and court injunctions.The problem is that whenever frontline police officers moan about Victim Focus, it sounds like we hate victims and want them to die.The truth is, we moan because the language of the government and Senior Management team assumes that the majority of our 'customers' are the same thing as 'victims'. They aren't. Victims of 'volume' crime* are generally bog standard, middle/low income, hardworking taxpayers. For these people, being burgled, having their car broken into, God forbid being mugged or having their kids being beaten up at school, are jaw-aching, heart-crushing blows in their already precarious uphill struggle of life. The chances of getting satisfaction over their burglar/thief/mugger/bully are virtually nil.

To read the full article & comments click here

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http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/


What Really Matters At The Top

September 3, 2009 by inspectorgadget

I want senior police officers to read this and think about it. Not just curl their lips with derision, or excuse it all as nonsense, but to really think deeply. If they still can.

On Tuesday morning (before I went to bed) after a bank holiday weekend of unbelievable overstretch and under resource, I wrote a quick list of what we had achieved over the period on my Response Team.

1. We saved one life (elderly person trapped behind closed doors on death’s door, rescued by a double crew who booted the door).

To read the full article & comments click here


Is There Anybody Out There?

August 21, 2009 by inspectorgadget

Because we use your money to run our huge, top-heavy and mainly incompetent organisation; you have the right to know how things are working in Ruralshire this summer. And how things work every summer, and every Christmas.

To read the full article & comments click here

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Sergeant Simon http://policelockerroom.blogspot.com/2009/08/back-to-basics.html

Back to basics

Was being sociable the other day and was chatting to some people I had just met. Conversations as they often do turned to work and what I do.I explained where I work, being a response team monkey somewhere in a suburb. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at their surprise when I said just how many police officers there were at any one time. It made me think for the unitiated i.e. those probably not reading this (never mind) there is a spectacular gulf between perceptions of police numbers and the reality of those on the streets who turn up when you call 999.

To read the full article & comments click here

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http://thebluelightrun.blogspot.com/


Time to go code 11?

As a result of the recent nightjack ruling, I was asked by an american twitter friend of mine whether I would be blogging about how I felt about the ruling. At first I wasn't that keen, the judgement has sent a shockwave of fear amongst police bloggers and my initial reaction was to shut up shop. I initially resisted as I wanted to see how others felt first. I have seen a number of fellow bloggers out there walking away from what they love doing. Metcountymounty, The Plastic Fuzz, etc. Sad times, an indictment of how very expensive freedom of speech has become.

To read the full article & comments click here

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http://twining.wordpress.com/

Memorandum of understandings – what a load of….

Preconceived racially stereotypical organisational perceptions of the Black Police Association movement, (e.g born again 1960’s, anti racist, left wing agitating and loony, radical, badly behaving group), exist amongst many within the Police establishment. In fact the term “tiddly winks” to describe the organisational antics of some BPA’s is not unheard of. That some BPA’s are ineffective is another proper view, but then what is ineffective?

To read the full article & comments click here


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http://michaelpinkstone.wordpress.com/


Echoes of Bulger

Two brothers (aged 10 and 11 at the time of the offence) have pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on two other boys aged 9 and 11.

The attack involved acts of torture, sexual incitement and threats to kill.
It would be difficult not to draw parallels with the murder of James Bulger in 1993 – news that horrified a country and forever permeated the national consciousness.

To read the full article & comments click here

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A NOTE FROM THE CRIME ANALYSIS TEAM :

Through these pages, we will provide collective information to raise public awareness of the plight of our British Bobby at the frontline of problems within our society.

Much of the detail will shock you.

So much of what really faces these Officers is thinly disguised in Government headlines about falling crime, increased resources and carefully selected statistics.

Not all of conclusions drawn from statistics are accurate. Many have a political "spin". Adminsitrative detections are one such example that we will explore in later posts.

Millions of pounds of taxpayers money is spent on strategic committees, civil liberties work groups, performance targeting and flavour of the month projects. Well intended though some of these activities are, they detract from the real issue : providing frontline officers with the resources they truly need to help improve the quality of our environment.

Front line officers are fed up with fiddled crime figures, mountains of paperwork that keep them tied up at the station and buried in bureaucracy. Senior police officers are placed under unreasonable pressure to meet bogus Home Office performance targets and dubious procedural compliance obligations. This pressure descends downwards, back to the Inspectors, Sergeants & Constables who find it increasingly difficult to simply "get the job done".

With statistical analysis reports and real life experiences, we will provide you with the real picture of crime and policing in the UK.

There have been many instances of well intended police officers being pressured into silence about the true condition of our country. If the law abiding, honest tax payer, sick of criminals ruling our streets, knew the full story, more pressure could be applied for the authorities to sit up and listen to what the public wants, and make the changes that are now urgently required.

We have no desire to become a mere "talking shop" about these issues. They are of major importance and most definately in the public interest. A period of information and data gathering (including the valuable opinion of the public) will be required. At such time as is appropriate, the information gathered will serve as one of the instruments of change.

If you are concerned about the crime and policing in the UK, please comment on these pages or feel free to contact us. (Details below).

Bookmark this site from your preferred links in the right hand panel, so that you will receive updates and articles as they are produced.

With Kind Regards

The Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Ltd

COPPER BLOG UPDATE

For anyone wondering what has happened to the "Coppers Blog" produced by PC David Copperfield (Stu Davidson), reprinted below is an article released today by Dan Hill from Monday Books.

Coppersblog - It's Not Another Nightjack

We've been emailed and telephoned by a number of people about the closure of Coppersblog.

It had come as a surprise to me - although Stuart is a good friend, we're not in daily contact - so I spoke to him briefly last night.For those who are concerned for him, don't be - he's fine. There's nothing sinister about it, he's just thinking about how and whether he wants to continue the blog and, in the meantime, has taken it off line. He may well be back.

Stuart started The Policeman's Blog in 2003 (the archive only goes back to 2005, but that's because he lost it when he took it down temporarily once before).That's a long time for anyone to keep writing, especially when conditions - personal and geographical - have changed so much.

It may be that he's said all he wants to say; certainly, Inspector Gadget is more relevant to the modern British reader now than Copperfield (Gadget's latest post is a cracker; I don't remember Stephen Fry starting a twitter campaign about the NHS when those 400 deaths were revealed.).

It wouldn't be right to finish the post without inviting you to buy Stuart's book, but if you're feeling the pinch here's a free extract.

Posted by Dan
Posted by News from Monday Books at 11:44

To visit the Monday Books blog click this link http://mondaybooks.blogspot.com/

The Monday Books website is at http://mondaybooks.com/

For the time being therefore, the link to David Copperfields site in the Police Blogs section will not reach the pages.

Kind Regards


Crime Analyst
Nice 1 Limited

CA Comment : We would concur with Dans' comments about Inspector Gadgets latest blog article, well worth a read! To read it now click here

OUR APOLOGIES TO 200 WEEKS BLOG

http://200weeks.police999.com/

On behalf of the team at Nice 1 Ltd, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise openly to the author of the police blog "200 weeks".

When adding the valued police links to our three consumer sites ttp://carcrimeuk.blogspot.com
http://theftprotect.blogspot.com/ and this site http://thinbluelineuk.blogspot.com/ , we added 200 to the first two, but inadvertently omitted to add the link to the Thin Blue Line.

This was a genuine oversight on my part, totally down to me I'm afraid, and the 200 link is now in its place in the police blog links to the right. I would recommend every reader to visit the 200 site.

An extract from the 200 site is reprinted below from the authors "About Me" section :-

August 2005

I’m just a regular police officer who has dedicated his entire working life to the police service and the public of the area I serve.

I’ve spent my entire service ‘in the trenches’ as a front-line officer. I’ve never gone for promotion preferring to spend my time dealing with the stuff I enjoy; wearing a blue suit & driving fast cars*!

I’ve got under 200 weeks to go before I retire. Although I love the elements of the job I joined for almost 30 years ago, the other stuff just makes we wish my retirement was closer. I can’t wait ’til the day I can say “I’m outta here”.

To see what the author is doing now, click here

Once again, many apologies to 200 for the oversight!

Kind Regards

Steve

Crime Analyst
Nice 1 Limited

IS THE THIN BLUE LINE GETTING THICKER??

Police numbers at a record high?? REALLY??

Police numbers have hit a record high in England and Wales, according to the latest figures released by the Home Office.

The annual police service strength statistics (new window) show that the number of police officers has increased by 1,921 since March last year.

This is a rise of 1.4% and brings the total number of officers to 142,151.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said that the figures are ‘encouraging,’ but said that the fight against crime is 'not just a numbers game.'

'What matters most is that the workforce delivers the best possible service to the public.

'Chief constables have more power than ever before to ensure they focus their resources on what matters to local people and what affects their communities.'

The figures also show that women represent 27% of rank and file officers.

There are now 6,290 black and minority ethnic police officers, which is an increase of 497 in the last year.


Source : http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/

WHAT THE REPORT DOESN'T SAY . . . . . . .

• How many officers are actually ON THE STREET doing the real job at the sticky end?
• How many are tied up in desk jobs and not available for front line duties?
• Will the Home Office bureaucracy plan release any office staff for real policing?
• Will busy town centres remain under policed when cover is needed most?
• How many "On The Street" hours are actually achieved BY force area?
• Is that the majority of forces have now had their recruitment budgets FROZEN

To quote Alan Johnson:

'What matters most is that the workforce delivers the best possible service to the public. Chief constables have more power than ever before to ensure they focus their resources on what matters to local people and what affects their communities.'

If only the members of the public and the officers on the front line could be given some confidence that there was light at the end of the tunnel.

There are more officers tied up in committees, strategy planning and statistical fudgery than dealing with crime and related matters on the street. All because politicians and civil servants play too significant a role in policing this country.

Policing at a local level, with local accountability is essential if real improvement is to be witnessed.

The timing of this report, concurrent with the release of crime statistics announcing further reductions in crime do not give rise for confidence.

Reports from the frontline (and we will provide detail in future posts) suggest that the crime statistics are manufactured with political pressure.

Why should we then place any creedance on a report bragging about police strength being at an all time high, when the frontline feedback is that police manpower where it's needed, is woefully inadequate?

LET'S HAVE SOME TRANSPARENCY FOR ONCE MR JOHNSON!!

• Tell us about the admistrative detection rates that skew the crime figures in your favour . .
• Tell us about the holding back of crime reporting to reflect lower annual crime rates . . . .
• Tell us the real policing numbers of officers actually on the street, by man hours please . . .
• Tell us how many hours officers are tied to the nick dealing with paperwork . . . . .
• Tell us what difference 1921 new officers will make in the scheme of things . . . . . .

According to frontline sources, you already have enough officers. That isn't in question. It is how those officers are deployed and at what critical times, for crime prevention and detection... That is what the public and the overworked front liners want to know.

Go on tell us ! If you dare.

With Kind Regards

The Crime Analyst Team

Nice 1 Limited

Car Crime UK is a recent creation of the crime analyst team at Nice 1 Ltd in the UK.

The site aims to strip away the mystery that surrounds crime reporting in the UK, by looking more closely at Government and Home Office published statistics on crime and then presenting it in a user friendly format for both the consumer and interested commercial enterprises.

Whilst the site will focus on car crime in particular, the very nature of crime analysis involves a degree of cross over between incidents, therefore most, if not all criminal offences will be analysed at varying levels.

ANALYSIS OF CRIME

Whilst statistics do not always make the most interesting reading matter, the trends that they reflect, particularly crime statistics, have a direct bearing on our well being and sense of security in the community.Crime statistics are collated daily by the 43 police forces of England & Wales.

You can see the forces listed in the police news links lower down this page. Under the freedom of information act, forces are obliged to disclose information about crime so that the public have access.

However, the police only gather information about recorded crime. There are 164 recordable offences, from murder downwards.The problem lies in the reporting of crime.

The Home Office gather the police force recorded crime data each year and present it in an extremely detailed document, together with the results of an annual survey that canvasses 50,000 UK citizens.

If every crime were reported, and categorised accurately, crime statistics and the overview of crime would be clear as crystal. It is the non reporting of crime, reflected by the Home Office survey that reflects the disparity between crimes experienced and those actually reported.

For some offences, only 30% are reported, with the Home Office survey suggesting that the actual crime is probably 40% higher that the recorded cases.

The Home Office state that the survey figures are closer to the actual crime experienced, as they are drawn from victims of crime who have often not reported the occurrence. Reasons for non reporting will be analysed and presented through these pages.

Through careful analysis of Home Office datasets, combined with similar in depth information from other government and professional trade sources, the team at Nice 1 are able to produce analytical reports that provide a clearer picture of the true extent of crime in England & Wales.

A GUIDED TOUR

A short video sequence from the recent Car Crime UK program currently being serialised on ITV1 appears lower down the page. Trevor McDonald presents the program every Tuesday night at 9pm.

To the right you will find direct links to the crime report analysis documents produced by Nice 1 since the release of the crime figures by the Home Office in July. As this is an ongoing, all year round exercise, documents will be added as they are completed, so bookmark this site or click the RSS feeds for regular updates.

In addition to exploring historic data and identifying the trends around the country, we identify the criminal "modus operandi" (M.O.) or method of operations being favoured by UK criminals.

Furthermore, we trawl all the police sites, crime newsfeeds and reliable information sources for criminal activity and relevant statistical data for all regions of the UK. This enables us to provide up-to-date information about all aspects of crime in every geographic district. The uniqueness of this site is that it acts as a central collator of information that would otherwise be a laborious and painstaking process.

Further updates to the site are in progress that will provide current information from these pages to keep you accurately informed.Also to the right are a series of links to useful articles and documents about keeping your vehicle secure and checking the security rating of any vehicle you might be planning to purchase. The Nice 1 team only source this quality of information from reliable sources such as "Thatcham" the insurance industry funded research unit, and professional, reliable industry sources.

To the lower right, are the news feed links to all 43 police forces in England & Wales, so that you can see the news being reported in your area today!

LET'S GET STARTED!

The crime anlysis reports are a great place to start.

Here are a brief few sentences to provide an overview of the reports you can view either from the links opposite or the links below.

• Recorded car crime for the 2008/09 period, reflecting the incident rates and frequency for all 376 geographical districts, sorted in decreasing order of requency click here to view
• Same report as above, sorted alphabetically click here to view
• Report illustrating how "Car Key Theft" being reported as burglary or robbery artificially suppresses the recorded car crime figures. click here to view
• Press release to co-incide with the Car Crime UK program launch and advising of the Nice 1 crime analytics. click here to view
• See how your car rates for security in the most recent Theft Index click here to view
• See how your bike rates for the most recent Bike Theft Index click here to view
• Analysis of the Top 20 areas where the crime trend is increasing click here to view
• Total recorded crime -vs- car crime viewed side by side click here to view
• Comparison of Home Office offence rates (per 1000 pupulation) and the Licensed vehicles in England & Wales in 2008, and its effect on frequency of crime. click here to view
• A full trend analysis of all major crime groups for each of the 376 local districts, measuring the % increase or decrease by district. In short, check your area to see if crime is increasing or decreasing click here to view

Having read an analysis, we would welcome any questions, enquiries or suggestions that might assist others. If we can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to e mail us from any of the links on these pages.

If you would like to see more articles about car crime around the UK, visit our consumer site by clicking here.

Kind Regards

The Crime Analysis Team
Nice 1 Limited

Car Crime UK - Going Up Not Down?

ANALYSIS of official crime figures has led one industry expert to question the Government’s statistics.

Carl Brandrick, MD of Nice 1 Ltd, has been looking at the just published British Crime Survey figures, and comparing it to official Police Recorded Crime. He’s discovered big disparities – with a huge relevance to to the owners of the 30million+ licensed vehicles on UK roads.

British Crime Survey figures, he says, show there were 10.6 million crimes last year. Police data, however, puts this figure at 4.7 million. Why the huge difference? Simple: Police data shows recorded crime only. ‘When you consider that only 65 percent of house burglaries are reported (and, thus, recorded) – and just 45 percent of car crime is reported, you can see how concerned I am.’

Indeed, the difference, he suggests, runs contrary to headlines claiming crime is going down. And there’s even more to it than just that, says the replacement vehicle insurance company boss.

A big car crime growth area is the theft of keys from houses. Which is reported by the Police as… house burglary…… and thus NOT included in car crime stats.

The former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith released the number of car key thefts in 2008. There were a hefty 18,600 of them. ‘When these numbers are factored into the car theft figures, it reverses the headline-grabbing -14 percent decrease in car theft, to -2 percent’ reveals Brandrick.

Looking at other factors too, it’s led him to state that ‘it is almost certain we are talking about a car crime increase, not a decrease.’

To read the full article click here

Comments are welcome.

The Crime Analysis Team

Nice 1 Limited