Eight out of ten home burglaries are going unsolved in Dorset

Councillors and community campaigners have spoken of their concerns that offenders are getting away with serious crimes after the statistics were released.

Of the 2,298 burglary offences recorded in the county in 2017/18, 1,834 - or 80 per cent - were assigned ‘investigation complete - no suspect identified’. In total, 119 people were brought to court in connection with a burglary matter.

During the same timeframe, 673 reports of theft or unauthorised taking of a vehicle were also recorded. Of these, a suspect was identified in 472 offences, or 70 per cent of the time.

A further 24 per cent of shoplifting offences went unsolved, with police receiving 4,147 reports of the crime and failing to find a suspect in 986 cases.

Bournemouth councillor Nick Rose, who serves Westbourne and West Cliff, said crime statistics are often ‘spun’ by police chiefs.

“The police should be engaging with councillors and residents on a regular basis, rather than the token annual effort we currently see,” he said.

“My residents are forever calling me to complain about drug dealing or burglary. I tell them to report it on 999 or 101 so the crime can be recorded, but often I’m asked what the point is.”

Cllr Rose says he has recently written to Inspector Adam Gill, who has responsibility for Bournemouth South, to complain of drug dealing in the West Cliff area.

“The situation in respect of general crime, including burglary, really is unacceptable,” he said.

Bournemouth resident Nigel Gillespie said rank and file police officers are working hard under great pressure.

“Austerity is absolutely the problem,” he said.

“I can imagine that morale is very low. It’s just job after job after job for these officers.

“Public confidence in policing seems to be low as a result of that.”

Cllr Chris Mayne, who represents West Southbourne, said the efforts of PCs in difficult financial circumstances may provide just “crumbs of comfort” to victims of burglaries.

“I have a great deal of sympathy for people whose homes are burgled,” he said.

“Dorset is one of the safest places to live in the country, and we could be a lot worse off, but it’s a very difficult situation.”

Alex Mayes of charity Victim Support said: “News like this could undermine confidence in the criminal justice system and prevent people reporting in the future.”

This week, Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas, president of the Police Superintendents’ Association, is to tell delegates at an annual conference that the public is being “defrauded” and policing stands on the brink of crisis.

The officer will say: “I cannot emphasise enough that the delivery of routine policing functions should not be dependent on officers effectively giving their time for free by staying past their shift times or working on leave days.

“That exploits police officers and defrauds the public.”

The “great service” is “on the verge of crisis”, Chief Superintendent Thomas will say at the conference.

Detective Inspector Neil Wright, of the volume and burglary crime team, said: “Dorset Police continues to work hard to investigate volume crime including burglary, theft and shoplifting and we have specialist teams working with partners that actively target burglary suspects, prolific offenders and gangs. The force also has specialist officers who investigate crime series and identify ongoing crime trends.

“We also continue to offer crime prevention advice and support to help stop people falling victim to such crimes.

“Every case is reviewed for solvability. While we always investigate all viable lines of enquiry it is also honest and realistic to recognise that some crimes simply aren’t solvable if the information we are provided with or discover does not identify a suspect or provides enough evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.

“Locally, we are working with a number of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and local authorities to ensure a partnership response to tackling acquisitive crime and other incidents and crime such as anti-social behaviour.

"We have a number of different initiatives currently in place for reporting shoplifting and encourage people to report the theft even if there may not be the opportunity to find those responsible or there is insufficient evidence to support a prosecution.

“We understand the impact crime has on victims and feel it is important to work with them by keeping them regularly updated with assistance of the Victims’ Bureau and officers are able to signpost them to crime prevention advice to help protect them from becoming victims of further crime.

“For more information and crime prevention advice visit dorset.police.uk/help-advice-crime-prevention/home-property-belongings"