4.3 million anti-social behaviour reports go unattended by police in past five years
EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Over 2,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour went unattended by police each day last year
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Some police forces attending fewer than one in five (19%) incidents
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Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey calls for “return to proper community policing” with more bobbies on the beat
A staggering 4.3 million reports of anti-social behaviour have gone unattended by the police across the country since 2019, data uncovered by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.
In 2022 alone, over 860,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour went unattended by a police officer - equivalent to over 2,000 cases a day. This was the highest proportion of unattended incidents out of any of the past four years.
The figures were obtained by the Liberal Democrats through Freedom of Information requests to police forces, asking for the number of anti-social behaviour incidents reported to their force and how many of these led to a police officer visiting the scene of the incident.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today call for a return to community policing on a local elections campaigning visit to Watford. Police in the local area of Hertfordshire failed to attend almost three in four (75%) reports of anti-social behaviour last year, one of the highest rates in the country.
Of the 38 police forces who submitted full responses, the worst performers in 2022 were Avon & Somerset and Cambridgeshire - with 81% and 80% of anti-social behaviour reports going unattended respectively.
The shocking new data comes as the Conservative Government looks set to break its trademark promise to recruit 20,000 extra police officers. Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) numbers have also plummeted under the Conservative Party’s watch, with the number of active PCSOs falling by an average of 33% in England and Wales since 2015.
Ahead of May’s local elections, the Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing - where officers are visible, trusted and have the time to focus on preventing and solving neighbourhood crimes.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
“It’s clear this Government has lost control of anti-social behaviour - and it’s only getting worse.
“Too many communities are being plagued by anti-social behaviour, with criminals being allowed to act with impunity while victims are left afraid to walk down their own street. People should be able to feel that if they fall victim to anti-social behaviour, it will be taken seriously and police will attend.
“Instead of more empty promises, it’s time for the Government to finally commit to proper community policing - where offices are visible, trusted, and able to tackle neighbourhood crime. It cannot wait any longer.”
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
This data was uncovered by an FOI to all 45 police forces in the UK. Their response provided the following data:
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How many incidents of anti-social behaviour were reported to their force in the past four calendar years: 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.
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How many of those reports led to a police officer visiting the scene of the incident.
The full data can be accessed below
