Every home burglary scene now attended by officers, say police chiefs

Officers in England and Wales have met a target to attend every domestic burglary scene, police chiefs have said.

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) made the pledge in a new set of standards announced last year.

The NPCC's Deputy Chief Constable Alex Franklin-Smith said they wanted to end the "postcode lottery" on policing.

But he said the policy had only had a modest impact so far on how many burglaries were being solved.

A report in August 2022 by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found most victims of burglary, robbery and theft were not getting the justice they deserved.

Announcing the target, the NPCC cited College of Policing evidence suggesting higher rates of attendance after a burglary would make victims feel safer and help with investigations.

Now the NPCC has announced that all 43 forces in England and Wales had successfully implemented the new policy by March this year.

DCC Franklin-Smith told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the target being met was a positive step and would help remove regional discrepancies in the quality of policing.

He explained: "Police chiefs up and down the country want to make sure that there isn't a postcode lottery when it comes to reporting and being a victim of such crime.

"It's great that we're able to make sure that there is this consistency in response - if you do phone your local force, you will get a response, and we will do everything we can do to identify those responsible."

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There were more than 271,000 incidents of burglary recorded by police in 2022, data from the Office for National Statistics shows.

But according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which is carried out by Kantar Public on behalf of the ONS, actual rates are much higher because of the number of crimes which go unreported.

The figures from both show the number of burglaries has been gradually coming down over the last 10 years.

DCC Franklin-Smith said the number recorded by the police had fallen by 50% and levels were now back to pre-Covid levels after rising during the pandemic.

But according to the NPCC, the number of people brought to justice for the crime remains low. Less than 5% of burglaries across England and Wales were solved in 2021/22.

Asked if the policy was leading to a rise in the number of burglaries being solved, DCC Franklin-Smith said: "We're seeing a slight increase," but he cautioned: "I think it would be wrong at this stage... to try and claim that we're seeing significant increases."

The Home Office has also created a new way of recording burglaries to make it clearer when a home has been entered by the perpetrator.

The NPCC said that previously a thief entering a home "was treated the same as the loss of a spade from a shed" in the data.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she was "delighted" to see the commitment fulfilled, adding: "This will help increase public confidence and see more criminals caught."