North Yorkshire Police criticised for failing to record thousands of reported crimes

Police are failing to record thousands of reported crimes including rape and violence, a watchdog has warned.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspectors said the shortcomings mean victims are potentially being failed. It rated two forces North Yorkshire as “inadequate” for crime recording.

The report on North Yorkshire estimated that the force fails to record 9,200 reported crimes a year, including sexual offences, domestic abuse and rape.

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Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said: “While our inspection shows that North Yorkshire Police has implemented most of the recommendations from our 2014 report, we still found plenty of room for improvement. As it stands today, we estimate almost one in five crimes in North Yorkshire are not properly recorded. This is simply inexcusable.

“The force has robust processes in place to ensure the safeguarding of victims of these crimes, but too many offences continue to go unrecorded and therefore not investigated properly. The force is potentially depriving victims of the services and justice to which they are entitled.”

North Yorkshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Lisa Winward acknowledged the force needs to do “much better”.

She said: “Based on its inspection last year, HMICFRS found that although our officers and staff are focused on the needs of victims, our administration is letting us down, and we are not recording all crimes as we should.

“That must change, and we have already started to make improvements. It’s important to remember that every call we answer is logged; nothing is ignored.”