Over 90 per cent of burglaries in Yorkshire and Humber going unsolved

Over nine in ten burglaries in Yorkshire are going unsolved with cases never reaching court, it has been revealed.

Statistics published by The Times showed that none of the region’s four police forces had a higher resolution rate than eight per cent.

Analysis of Home Office figures for 2020/21 show that in South Yorkshire, 94.2 per cent of cases were closed with ‘no resolution’ - either because no suspect had been identified, there were evidential difficulties or taking the matter to court was deemed not be in the public interest.

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South Yorkshire had the third-highest ‘no resolution’ rate in the country, behind only Warwickshire and West Mercia. Only five per cent of the region’s cases were resolved, with 0.8 per cent still listed as outstanding.

Burglary detection rates have been falling across the country.Burglary detection rates have been falling across the country.
Burglary detection rates have been falling across the country.

Humberside had the region’s highest resolution rate for burglaries at 7.9 per cent of cases, but 91.4 per cent had no resolution and 0.8 per cent remained outstanding.

In West Yorkshire, 91.3 per cent of cases were closed with no action taken, with 5.2 per cent resolved and 3.5 per cent outstanding.

In North Yorkshire, just 4.4 per cent of cases were listed as resolved, with 90.3 per cent having no resolution and 5.3 per cent outstanding.

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Detective Superintendent Simon Gawthorpe of Humberside Police said: “Burglary is a priority for us and we are determined to catch and convict the criminals who are responsible for this terrible crime.

“Every day our officers are working hard to prevent further offences occurring. We never underestimate the impact it has on victims when someone breaks into their home.

“That is why we do all we can to support victims, through services like Victim Support, as well as gathering the evidence we need to catch and charge the person responsible.

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“Like all areas of the country, there are cases where we are unable to identify a suspect or prosecute them because sometimes there isn’t sufficient evidence – and that’s as frustrating for us as it is for the victim.

“However, my appeal to our residents is – if you see something suspicious or you have information about those responsible for crime don’t hesitate to contact us. Our communities are great at giving us information and that is vital to help us secure convictions.”

West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Osman Khan said: “We recognise the huge impact being burgled can have on people, whether that is in their homes or their workplace.

“We have made significant investment in projects to reduce burglary and theft offences and it is worth noting that in the latest crime statistics released last week, house burglaries were down 26.9 per cent in West Yorkshire, which equates to 3,512 less victims.

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“Where offences do occur we have dedicated teams of officers and staff in each of our districts working to investigate burglary offences.

“There are a number of reasons why crimes can be finalised as unsolved, which may include a lack of evidence or suspects, but can also be due to the victim themselves not wanting to pursue the matter beyond making an official report.

“Our detection rates are relatively in line with other police forces in England and Wales but we are not complacent. We are continually working to improve the quality of investigations by listening to feedback from victims, looking at new and improved ways of working and training and upskilling our officers and staff.”

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: “We understand how distressing it is to be a victim of a burglary so we are continuing to do all we can to tackle burglaries across South Yorkshire.

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“We have targeted patrols, utilising neighbourhood teams to increase patrols in areas where a burglary has been reported. We have forensically marked thousands of properties across South Yorkshire with smart water as part of Operation Shield, and have the don’t buy crime portal, which encourages places to check for smart water before they buy any items from people.

"This enables us to recover stolen property quickly and return it to the owner. We also work closely with offender management teams focusing on outstanding suspects and previous offenders to look at ways to prevent reoffending.

“We will continue to work with partner agencies and do all we can to prevent burglaries.”

Nationally, the figures show that the percentage of solved burglaries has almost halved in seven years across England and Wales.

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Police solved just over five per cent of burglaries last year compared with nearly 9.4 per cent in 2015, according to the analysis by The Times.

Of the 268,000 burglaries between April 2020 and 2021, only 14,000 were solved while 243,000 were abandoned.

In contrast, in 2014/15, almost 32,000 of the 342,000 recorded burglaries that year were solved.

North Yorkshire Police was contacted for comment.

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