LONDON, ENGLAND – Nearly 4.8 million reported crimes in England and Wales went unsolved in the year leading up to June, sparking questions about the performance of the police. According to official crime figures analyzed by the Labour Party, over 2.3 million investigations were dropped without finding the culprit. Additionally, nearly 1.6 million cases were abandoned due to victims withdrawing their support, while 872,000 inquiries were halted despite suspects being identified.
The total number of unsolved crimes accounted for 87% of all reported crimes in the year, despite a surge in the number of police officers over the last four years. The Home Office’s ‘police uplift’ program, which aimed to hire 20,000 officers, saw the number of officers in England and Wales increase to 147,430 in March of the following year. The government has also increased police funding by £843 million to £18.4 billion in the next financial year.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper criticized the government’s handling of law and order, attributing the surge in unsolved crimes to the Conservative party’s policies. However, police minister Chris Philp accused the Labour Party of hypocrisy, citing the party’s resistance to tougher sentences and new measures to combat crime.
In the year leading up to June, 1.7 million violent crimes and 1.6 million thefts remained unsolved, marking a drastic increase from the figures recorded eight years prior. The number of crime victims who withdrew their support from police investigations also rose by over 75,000 compared to the previous year.
In conclusion, the high number of unsolved crimes in England and Wales has raised concerns about the effectiveness of law enforcement despite the government’s efforts to increase police numbers and funding. The issue has also sparked political debate, with opposing parties blaming each other for the shortcomings in the criminal justice system.