Thought for the day as 9 in 10 burglaries in West Somerset go unsolved

A report in This is the Westcountry.co.uk today tells us that 90% of burglaries committed in West Somerset during the past two years have gone undetected.

Someone, maybe This is the Westcountry, obtained the info through a Freedom of Information request to Avon and Somerset Police.  It seems that of the 230 reported burglaries only 23 were solved.

There’s an interview with Chief Inspector Paul Mogg who told the reporter that although the cases weren’t solved they weren’t closed either, since evidence could come to light later. He rightly makes the point that many of these burglaries would have been committed by prolific offenders and while they didn’t have the evidence to prosecute them for the offences that remained unsolved they would have been prosecuted for others.

The Chief Inspector goes on to say that the public can do much to help the police catch and prosecute many more offenders by marking valuable property, recording serial numbers and doing more to prevent the crimes in the first place.  And, he pointed out; West Somerset was actually one of the safest places in the country.

Then the politician wades in with West Somerset prospective parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats, Justine Baker, declaring that she was “shocked” saying that burglary was a ‘big crime’ in West Somerset, which sounds rather different to what the Chief Inspector had to say.

Then she remarks about proposals to change police station provision in Minehead, which is concerning her and that the money this will save will have a bigger impact on the local communities than originally thought.  (Police budget cuts and the coalition government suddenly spring to mind.)

The report goes on to inform us that the majority of thefts and criminal damage reports go unsolved and finally the report tells us that there is some good news though, because 175 of the 180 drug offences recorded were solved.  All this tells me is that this reporter doesn’t understand that drug offence data is more a measure of police activity than anything else.

So what does this report tell me?

1. Nothing I didn’t already know or could have guessed
2. An election is on the horizon
3. The police are doing their best
4. Some of these crimes could have been prevented
5. The reporter needs to do more research

Yes, I’m being somewhat cynical, but it’s Thursday and that’s my day for being so.

The reality is that the majority of property crimes that are not witnessed and from which there is little or no evidence at the scene will continue to remain unsolved.  That’s just the way it is and this is why I bang on about crime prevention so much.

You know it makes sense!

Source: This is the Westcountry.co.uk: http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/11525459.Nine_in_ten_burglaries_in_West_Somerset_unsolved/