Officers Now Attend Every Home Burglary Following Push for ‘Common Sense Policing’
Police forces in England and Wales have fulfilled a pledge made last year to attend the scene of every home burglary, according to police chiefs.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said in October that officers would attend all residential thefts, following the UK government’s call for a shift of focus from “symbolic gestures” to “common sense policing.”
The council confirmed on Thursday that all 43 forces in England and Wales have been implementing the policy since March.
Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith, the NPCC’s lead for burglary, described it as a “milestone” but said it was “only the first step” in tackling the crime.
He said: “We want to be bringing more offenders to justice, we want to be gathering more evidence, and we want to be improving detection rates. We expect to be judged on the results the public see.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman welcomed the development.
She said: “Burglary is an awful crime which must be tackled, and that’s why I am delighted to see that police forces across England and Wales have fulfilled their commitment to attend all domestic burglaries. This will help increase public confidence and see more criminals caught.”
‘Symbolic Gestures’
The NPCC made the pledge after Braverman told police chiefs that they should focus on fighting real crimes rather than making “symbolic gestures.”
In an open letter issued in September, the home secretary said she was “dismayed by the perceived deterioration of public confidence in the police” and said that “culture and standards in the police have to change, particularly in London.”
“The public have a right to expect that the police get the basics right: driving down anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime which can so easily rip through our communities,” she wrote.
Braverman noted that “there is a perception that the police have had to spend too much time on symbolic gestures, than actually fighting criminals.”
“Drugs, vehicle theft, vandalism, and graffiti are not being treated seriously enough,” she added.
She said this situation “must change,” and that “initiatives on diversity and inclusion should not take precedence over common sense policing.”
‘Common Sense Policing’
In November, Braverman told police bosses they must shift their focus onto “common sense policing.”
She said that officers should not be facing “politically correct” distractions in order to ensure that priorities are focused on tackling crime, “not debating genders on Twitter.”
“The way to ensure public confidence in the police is to focus on getting the basics right,” she said.
“What I call ‘common sense policing.’ The kind of policing the law-abiding patriotic majority deserves and expects,” said Braverman.
Regaining Trust
In a statement on Thursday, Chief Constable Andy Marsh, the College of Policing chief executive, said the police commitment to attend all burglary scenes is “a necessary and welcome step towards regaining and improving community trust by returning to the fundamentals of policing.”
He added: “It will make forces more accountable within their own communities, bring more consistency to our responses to burglary, and help to improve detection rates. Policing should be able to deliver more of what the public rightly expects of it.”
NPCC’s Franklin-Smith said the number of burglaries is at an “all-time low, down more than 50 per cent over the past decade.”
But he said the police are “not complacent,” adding, “We will continue to prioritise preventing these offences, targeting repeat offenders and organised crime groups, and solving as many burglaries as we can.”
Out of 148,764 residential burglaries recorded by police forces in England and Wales in 2021/22, just 3.5 percent (5,236) resulted in a charge or summons. Almost 72 percent of the investigations were closed with no suspect identified (106,632).
The latest number of reported burglaries is lower than in previous years, probably down to periods of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic when fewer crimes were committed.
John Hayward-Cripps, Neighbourhood Watch Network chief executive, described the news as “reassuring” but added, “This alone will not be enough to deter would-be burglars.”
He urged people to make properties less attractive to criminals, to share information about attempted thefts and to look out for those vulnerable residents who are at risk.
PA Media contributed to this report.
