Police Fail Victims of Crime, Says Watchdog

Too many crime victims are still being let down by the police, who are failing to get the basics right, according to the chief inspector of constabulary in his annual report.

Andy Cooke, the watchdog for police standards, stated that many victims are receiving a "substandard" service because the police response is not "quick, thorough, and caring" enough.

Victims are left dissatisfied due to failures in basic tasks like promptly answering 999 or 101 calls, attending incidents within a "reasonable" timeframe, investigating all reasonable lines of enquiry, keeping victims informed, and bringing offenders to justice. These issues are exacerbated by significant court backlogs.

"Any criminal justice system should be centred on the victims, surely. However, we're seeing it takes far too long for victims to actually get justice, if ever," he said.

Mr. Cooke highlighted "alarming" research by the victims' commissioner, which found only eight percent of the public believed they could receive justice by reporting a crime.

"I echo the Victims' Commissioner's comment that 'these statistics should serve as a wake-up call for all those involved in the justice system'. Victims should be, but are not, at the heart of the criminal justice system," he added.

"Too many victims are still being let down because they are being given a substandard service. Many victims choose not to report their crime to the police in the first place. Of those who do, some data seems to indicate that contact with the police is more likely to decrease their confidence in the service than increase it. This is extremely disappointing."

Mr. Cooke noted that too few police investigations resulted in an offender being charged and prosecuted or receiving an out-of-court punishment. Only 5.7 percent of all crimes result in a charge, down from 15.5 percent a decade ago. This national figure, however, masked "wide and unjustifiable" variations in performance between police forces.

While Durham Constabulary secured justice for victims in 14.1 percent of crimes, it was just 3.6 percent in the West Midlands and 4.7 percent in the Metropolitan Police, Britain's biggest force currently in special measures.

Mr. Cooke acknowledged that crime rates were decreasing and there were more police officers than ever after a government increase of 20,000 officers. However, he pointed out that many officers were inexperienced, with 36 percent having less than five years of experience, which meant the full benefit of the increase had yet to be felt by communities and forces.

He also acknowledged that the police's ability to detect crime had been "negatively affected" by demands to deal with people suffering from mental ill health, the increasing complexity of crime, and shortages of resources. Despite efforts by chief constables to improve performance and restore public trust, forces were still not performing as well as they should for the funds they received.

"Victims want to be treated with respect and dignity, they want the police to take proportionate action, and they want to be kept informed of the progress of the case," said Mr. Cooke. "These aren't unreasonable expectations; but too often, they aren't met. The response isn't always sufficiently quick, thorough, and caring."

He urged the government to set up a royal commission into the criminal justice system.

The Johnson Partnership

Nottingham Solicitors