Burglary (295A/24)
Request
I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act on burglary cases by Local Policing Area.
Please can I have this information for each of the past four calendar years (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020).
- The total number of burglary cases reported to your force, broken down by Local Policing Area.
- The number of burglary cases that were closed without a suspect being identified, again broken down by Local Policing Area.
- The average time (in hours, minutes and seconds) it took for police to arrive on the scene of domestic burglary incidents, broken down by Local Policing Area.
If your force does not use Local Policing Areas, please can you provide an equivalent local breakdown e.g. by local authority.
Response
Please find attached our response.
Please note: For Q3 we have provided the median time.
Please note that these data should be interpreted with caution. Comparing numbers of incidents/crimes can be misleading and does not necessarily indicate the likelihood of someone being a victim of crime. In addition, the number of incidents/crimes recorded in an area over a period of time can be influenced by a number of factors. Consequently statistics on incidents/crimes for one period may not necessarily be a good indicator of future incidents in that area.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when interpreting those data.
The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be taken into account when those data are used.
If you decide to write an article / use the enclosed data we would ask you to take into consideration the factors highlighted in this document so as to not mislead members of the public or official bodies, or misrepresent the relevance of the whole or any part of this disclosed material.
We fully understand the devastating impact burglary can have on those affected whether in their home or business environment.
Since December 2022, our response to incidents of burglary changed. Following a national agreement, we now attend all reported residential burglaries, unless the victim states they do not wish us to attend.
We’re committed to following the trail of evidence in all the cases we examine − but if an investigation finds no witnesses, CCTV or forensic evidence then the chances of identifying offenders is vastly reduced.
In 2023, we recognised that burglary was a priority offence and strategies were put in place to help reduce this crime, which includes working with our regional forces to target burglary suspects and organised crime gangs.
We also look at the underlying causes of burglary and the people who commit these crimes and have invested in rehabilitation and intervention programmes to help reduce these offences.
We continuously evaluate and refine our strategies, we remain committed to providing a safer environment for all members of the public.