Police failed to attend 1,412 burglaries in Surrey last year.

1,412 burglaries went unattended in Surrey last year, stark figures
uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have shown.

Of the 2,768 burglaries reported, police only arrived at the scene
in 1,356 instances - accounting for just 48.99% of cases.
The number of unsolved burglaries in Surrey also soared, with 2,195
cases being closed without a suspect even identified. This is equivalent
to 79.3% of all cases. The Surrey figures are some of the worst in the
country.

Nationally, almost four in ten burglaries in the country did not result in
a visit to the scene by a police officer. The figures were based on data
provided by 19 police forces in England. Another 14 forces refused to
provide the figures.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new “Burglary Response
Guarantee,” which would create a guarantee that all domestic
burglaries are attended by the police and properly investigated. 
This will require a return to proper community policing - where officers
are visible, trusted, and have the time and resources needed to focus
on solving crime.

Since 2015, the Conservatives have taken over 4,000 Police Community
Support Officers off the streets, while they look set to have broken their
key promise of having recruited an extra 20,000 police officers by the
end of March 2023. 

Esher and Walton has seen drastic cuts to PCSOs in Surrey.
There were a total of 88 full-time equivalent PCSOs in Surrey in
September 2022. This is in stark contrast to the 140 that were
employed in March 2021- meaning there have been 52 PCSOs cut from
Surrey Police Force in just 18 months  - a 37% reduction

These savage cuts come on top of the closure in recent years of 20
Surrey police stations - four of them within Esher and Walton.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Esher & Walton,
Monica Harding said:
“It is shocking that so many burglaries in our community are not being
attended by a police officer. No family should be denied justice after
suffering the distress and trauma of being burgled.  
“Many families across Surrey now feel unsafe in their own homes,
because this Conservative government has left our police forces
overstretched and under-resourced. It means far too many victims are
being denied justice and far too many criminals are getting away with it.
“The Liberal Democrats would ensure that if people are burgled, they
know the police will attend the scene and investigate properly. More
and more people across Surrey are turning to the Liberal Democrats,
because they know we work hard for our communities, we hear your
concerns, and we never take you for granted.” 

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Full data available here. Of the 19 police forces that responded to the
FOI, a total of 119,190 burglaries were reported in 2022. Policy only
arrived at the scene for 73,957 of these, accounting for 62% of cases.
89,337 cases were closed without a suspect being identified -
equivalent to 75% of all cases. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new statutory guarantee that all
domestic burglaries must be attended by the police and properly
investigated. 

To implement this guarantee, we are calling on the Government to: 
Return to proper community policing, where officers have the time and
resources they need to focus on preventing and solving crime;
Urgently draw up a strategy to tackle the shortage of detectives; and

Set up a new national Online Crime Agency, to better protect people
from online crime while freeing up local forces’ time to tackle burglars. 
An HMICFRS report from last year said that most burglary victims
“aren’t getting the justice they deserve”.