REDDITCH Lib Dems have hit out after figures from the Home Office show that 3,509 burglaries – 70 per cent – went unsolved across West Mercia in the year ending June 2023.
They say that’s the equivalent to 10 burglaries going unsolved in the force’s area every single day.
Meanwhile, just 303 cases resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed in the same time period – accounting for just 6.13 per cent of all burglaries in the region.
The national figures paint a similarly dire picture with 76 per cent of burglaries across England and Wales unsolved in the year ending June 2023, while just six per cent of cases resulted in a suspect being charged or summonsed.
Redditch Liberal Democrats have slammed the Conservative Government over the figures, arguing that years of ineffective resourcing has left local forces overstretched and unable to focus on crimes like burglaries.
This includes taking more than 4,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) off the streets since 2015, and assigning just 12 per cent of officers to neighbourhood policing teams.
The party is calling for a new ‘Burglary Response Guarantee’ under which all domestic burglaries would be attended by the police and properly investigated.
This would be accompanied by a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and focused on tackling neighbourhood crime.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in their homes and confident that if they are burgled, the criminal will swiftly face justice,” said Andrew Fieldsend-Roxborough, Liberal Democrat spokesman for Redditch.
“It’s hard for people in Redditch to feel that confidence, thanks to these shocking figures.
“Yet again, this Conservative Government is failing to even get the basics right on cutting crime. It’s a shame that our communities are paying the price.
“People in Redditch deserve better.”
