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The Metropolitan Police has not identified a single suspect in investigations into neighbourhood crimes such as phone and bike thefts, burglaries and vehicle crime in more than 160 areas for the past three years.
An analysis of unsolved crimes in Britain has revealed that Britain’s biggest force is failing to tackle a range of offences, while brazen criminals say they do not fear the police.
Channel 4 Dispatches found 167 areas across England and Wales where the police had not identified a single suspect for neighbourhood crimes between 2021 and 2023. All but one of them were in the Met’s area, in London.
The police watchdog said the number of neighbourhoods with a zero-detection rate was “not acceptable”.
Andy Cooke, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said: “The Metropolitan Police, over the last couple of years, have seen unprecedented demand, there is no doubt about that… However, too often the police aren’t getting the basics right.
“Seeing so many neighbourhoods that have got zero per cent detection rates for some of these crimes, it’s not acceptable. If the chances of being caught are so low, that is not a deterrent.”
In one small area around Oxford Circus and Regent Street there were more than 10,000 thefts from a person over the last three years with more than 99 per cent of them going unsolved, data analysis by Crest Advisory revealed.
One phone snatcher told the show: “I don’t give a f*** about what the police are doing, innit. I don’t care. I ain’t been nicked for it, yeah? And I ain’t going to get nicked. That’s how I look at it.”
Another insider said he made £12-15,000 per month buying and reselling stolen phones, most of which are sent to China to be stripped for parts or unlocked for resale.
“Cheap phones each, I can make £100 to £150. If a good phone like iPhone 15 pro max, I can earn £250. Maybe £12,000 to £15,000 per month,” they said.
One victim whose phone was snatched explained he had been told by police they could not progress his case as they did not have any leads, suspects or CCTV.
Two weeks later his phone was showing up as in Shenzhen, China, a key area in the electronic goods trade.
The Met’s Commander Owain Richards said officers are targetting resources to hotspot areas to deter criminals.
“We understand the impact that robbery can have on victims. It’s an invasive and often violent crime and we recognise that there is still much more to do to tackle it as we make London safer,” he said.
“We are also working with phone firms to ‘design out’ the ability for phones to be reused and sold on as we seek to dismantle the criminal market that fuels robbery and theft.
“We encourage people to report as soon as they can whenever they have been a victim of a robbery or theft, so officers can attend the scene and investigate swiftly.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “As part of our mission to take back our streets we will restore neighbourhood policing in local communities by delivering 13,000 neighbourhood police and community support officers.
“The Home Office will take a more active role to improve standards in policing so that charge rates increase, more crimes are solved and justice is delivered for victims rebuilding confidence and trust in policing.”
Watch Britain’s Unsolved Crimewave: Dispatches on Channel 4 at 10pm on Tuesday 16 July.
