Cops to make victims of crime gather evidence and submit statements themselves in new ‘self-service’ cost-cutting scheme
Victims will be encouraged to also upload smartphone footage of crimes being committed
MEMBERS of the public who claim they have been the victim of a crime will be told to solve it themselves, submitting evidence in a new "self-service" system.
Victims will be encouraged to also upload smartphone footage of crimes being committed, and any other evidence they can muster - all in a bid to save cops cash.
A pilot scheme will be launched in the West Midlands before the end of the year.
Defending the controversial proposal, Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: "The public are just as capable as the police."
Mr Thompson also claims that it will give victims more choice on how they report crime.
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Mr Thompson added: "Most modern companies allow people to do things online.
"The way the public contact the police could be different. We’d never say 'do your own interview'.
"Self-service should not be doing your own crime investigations, but there is quite a lot the public could do to help us."
However Steve White, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, described the idea as "barmy" and "misguided at best".
Speaking yesterday, he said: "The idea of members of the public writing their own statements, uploading their own criminal reports and essentially doing their own investigations is quite frankly barmy.
"The police service has to deal with often the most vulnerable in society and to assume that everyone has the ability to start their own police investigation by submitting their own statements is misguided at best.
"Let’s be brutally frank – the police service would not have to come up with these sorts of ideas if it was properly resourced."
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