One in five burglaries unsolved in Devon and Cornwall

265 burglaries in Devon and Cornwall were unsolved in the first three quarters of 2023, shocking figures show.

Of the 1,242 burglaries reported in that time period, only 71 resulted in a charge or summons. And 265 investigations were closed without even identifying a suspect - meaning 21% of burglaries went unsolved.

The Liberal Democrats have also uncovered shocking figures on police attendance of burglaries. Nationally, almost four in ten burglaries in the country did not result in a visit to the scene by a police officer. The figures were based on data provided by 19 police forces in England. Devon and Cornwall Police did not provide data.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new "Burglary Response Guarantee," which would create a guarantee that all domestic burglaries are attended by the police and properly investigated.

This will require a return to proper community policing - where officers are visible, trusted, and have the time and resources needed to focus on solving crime.

Since 2015, the Conservatives have taken over 4,000 Police Community Support Officers off the streets, while they look set to have broken their key promise of having recruited an extra 20,000 police officers by the end of March 2023.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat spokesperson and the party's candidate for Plymstock Radford in the local elections on 4 May, Roy Plumley said:

"It is shocking that so many burglaries in our community are going unsolved. No family should be denied justice after suffering the distress and trauma of being burgled.

"This Conservative Government has left our police forces overstretched and under-resourced. It means far too many victims are being denied justice and far too many criminals are getting away with it.

"The Liberal Democrats would ensure that if people are burgled, they know the police will attend the scene and investigate properly."

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new statutory guarantee that all domestic burglaries must be attended by the police and properly investigated.

To implement this guarantee, we are calling on the Government to:

• Return to proper community policing, where officers have the time and resources they need to focus on preventing and solving crime;
• Urgently draw up a strategy to tackle the shortage of detectives; and
• Set up a new national Online Crime Agency, to better protect people from online crime while freeing up local forces' time to tackle burglars.

A report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) from last year said that most burglary victims "aren't getting the justice they deserve".