Met Police ‘ignoring third of crimes reported after just one phone call’
The Metropolitan Police introduced a new system last year that allows burglaries, low-level assault, criminal damage, and theft to be dismissed without investigation
A POLICE force dismisses almost a third of crimes reported after just one phone call and no visit to the victim, it emerged last night.
The Metropolitan Police, the UK’s biggest, last year introduced a Telephone and Digital Investigation Unit which allows burglaries, low-level assaults, criminal damage, and theft to be dismissed without being investigated.
And 37 per cent of reports between April and December 2017 were assessed over the phone by the TDIU.
Of those, 80 per cent were not probed further — accounting for 29.6 per cent of crimes reported, according to The Times.
Budget cuts and the need to divert stretched resources to more serious crimes are to blame, the Met told The Sun last night.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons said: “Every crime reported is investigated, whether that’s through face-to-face contact with an officer or detective, or through alternative routes such as the TDIU. But like any organisation we have got a budget to work to and have to make decisions about what we prioritise.”
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