Almost a third of all crime reports to Britain’s biggest police force are dismissed after a single phone call with the victim, figures show.
The Metropolitan Police quietly introduced a policy which allows a list of crimes – including burglaries, low-level assaults and criminal damage – to be dismissed without being investigated.
The Telephone and Digital Investigation Unit (TDIU), a triaging zone for crime reports, was launched last April and dealt with 37% of crimes reported to the force until December 2017, according to The Times.
The unit dealt with 39% of reported crime between January and October this year, according to a Freedom of Information request.
It comes amid budget cuts and a focus on a surge in violent crimes and sexual offences, The Times said.
“We have got a budget to work to, we have demand to meet, and have to make decisions about what we prioritise”
- Mark Simmons, Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner
According to paper, the dropped reports account for 29.6% of all crimes reported to the Met, but the true number of cases is likely to be much higher.
Around 80% of 200,000 reported crimes looked at by the unit last year were “assessed out”, i.e. not investigated according to criteria such as a lack of CCTV or the availability of forensic evidence.
If a suspect is identified by the victim, the crime is automatically “assessed in” for further investigation, alongside mandatory offences that must be investigated, including sexual assault.
The report also revealed 1.26m calls to the non-emergency 101 number were abandoned by the Met last year, with callers waiting an average of 15 minutes to get through.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons, in charge of local policing, said any crime diverted to the TDIU was dealt with on a “case by case basis”.
“Every crime reported to us is investigated, whether that’s through face-to-face contact with an officer or detective, or through alternative routes such as the TDIU,” he said.
“But like any organisation, we have got a budget to work to, we have demand to meet, and have to make decisions about what we prioritise.
“We have to take a clear view about what is most important for Londoners in terms of safety.
“We continually look at ways of reducing demand on response officers, and examples include the diversion of calls that do not require a face-to-face response to our Local Resolution Team or to the TDIU.”