Watchdog: ‘police postcode lottery’ must end

A postcode lottery of how police forces across England and Wales respond to crime has to stop, a police watchdog has insisted.

A member of the public will receive a different response from the police for the same kind of crime or incident, depending on where they live, a report from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found yesterday.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary is following a national trend for police forces to not automatically attend every crime report for the public, the report revealed.

Police in Bristol will attend a report made by a member of the public only based on a series of considerations, including identifying the threat, risk and harm to the victim, caller or community.

Only a handful of forces across England and Wales had a policy to attend every crime, and HMIC said it “understood that the constabulary has not consulted the public in relation to this policy”.

In a letter to the acting chief constable in Avon and Somerset, Drusilla Sharpling – HM Inspector of Constabulary in the Wales and Western Region – also highlighted the lack of an overarching crime prevention strategy which she said would “provide greater clarity to officers, staff and the public on the importance to the constabulary of preventing crime and anti-social behaviour and how this will be achieved”.

The report also found limited crime prevention training had been delivered to staff who deal frequently with victims of crime and anti-social behaviour, and there was “little evidence of evaluation or sharing of good practice across the constabulary”.

The force was praised in a number of areas, but the inspectorate criticised the fragmented way forces across England and Wales were dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour.

HMI Roger Baker, who led the inspection, said: “Police forces have done a good job in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, leading to long-term reductions over the last ten years.

“However, we were concerned to find that a member of the public will receive a different response from the police for the same type of crime or incident, depending on where they live; this sort of postcode lottery has to stop and a consistent approach applied across England and Wales.”

Meanwhile, the report also found that in some force areas victims of crime are being “encouraged” to investigate offences themselves.

HMIC said criminal damage and car crime were “on the verge of being decriminalised” because forces had “almost given up”. In some cases victims were asked to check for CCTV or fingerprints.

While Avon and Somerset were not specifically named on this, victims of bicycle theft in the city have reported that police have suggested they look for their bike themselves online and in second-hand shops.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said austerity meant forces had to set priorities.

But the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Tom Winsor, said a cut in police spending was no excuse for failing to investigate crime.

“This isn’t a question of austerity, principally,” he told the BBC. “Over the last 10 years we’ve seen a 38% drop in crime, 10% since 2010.

“The public have a right to have their crimes investigated – and indeed some forces do turn up to 100% of crimes.

“Even the Metropolitan Police, the largest force in the country – they will come to all crimes if the public want them to do so.”