Three-quarters of crimes in Dorset last year unsolved

More than three-quarters of crimes committed in Dorset last year remain unsolved, police figures show.

Of the crimes reported to Dorset Police in 2011, 78% remain undetected, with no-one being charged or prosecuted.

Police solved 272 out of 1,899 dwelling burglaries and 240 out of 4,336 of vehicle crimes, a rate of 5.5%.

Changes to investigations has resulted in a 3% rise in detection rates so Dorset Police is now inline with the national average (25%), the force said.

Last year 3,527 out of 9,137 violent crimes in the county were solved and 155 of 603 sexual offences detected.

'Working with victims'

Det Ch Supt Colin Stanger said: "The benefits of the changes made are now being realised, with significant increases in the last five months of the number of crimes detected - a trend which continues through to this year's performance.

"This also needs to be taken into context with a continuing decrease in the number of crimes committed for the 14th consecutive year in Dorset, with almost 1,000 crimes less being committed to date this year alone, a 16.7% reduction."

He added that a number of low level crimes are now resolved using other non-court disposals, such as working with victims and meeting their wishes as to how an offender can be dealt with, which are not included within the overall detection rate.

The figures, obtained by the Dorset Echo under the Freedom of Information Act, also shows the rate of undetected crime has gone up slightly since 2010.

In 2011 45,148 crimes were recorded, 9,753 of which led to a charge, summons, caution, formal warning, youth reprimand or the offence being taken into consideration.