Police refuse to probe one in six crimes

Police in Lincolnshire refused to investigate one in six crimes last year, it has been revealed.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show 9,003 crimes were “screened out” as unsolvable within hours of being reported to Lincolnshire Police.

Last year 55,277 crimes were reported to the county’s force, meaning 16 per cent - or one in six - were not investigated.

From the 12 English and Scottish forces that responded to the Freedom of Information request, it was revealed that 788,000 crimes were screened out last year from a total of 2,029,000 recorded offences - a rate of 39 per cent.

The findings suggest that out of six million offences reported to forces in the UK last year, around 2.3 million were not investigated.

When crimes are screened out no officer visits the scene of the crime and no attempt is made to catch the culprit.

Even robberies and violent crimes can be screened out, while other cases involve fraud, theft and vandalism.

In some areas, forces have adopted an official policy not to investigate non-residential burglaries, criminal damage under £1,000 or low level harassment - regardless of solvability.

Lincolnshire Police said screening out was necessary in order to make best use of limited resources.

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