MP’s concern as figures show barely one in ten crimes are being solved by police force
Only about one in ten crimes recorded by Cleveland Police is being solved – deemed a positive outcome – and the rate is declining.
A positive outcome occurs when a suspect is charged or summonsed over an offence, or the case is disposed of via some other method, such as a caution or the individual concerned agreeing to some form of reparation or attendance on a course aimed at steering them away from further crime.
In the 12 months to September this year figures show 10.5% of recorded crimes in Cleveland had a positive outcome, a rate which fell by 0.8% from the previous 12 months.
The figure was even lower for house burglaries (6.6%) and violent crime (8.8%) which fell by 0.2% and 0.4% on the previous recorded period.
Cleveland Police said it continued to make improvements in the service it provided to the public and was “committed to achieving the best outcomes” for any victim of crime.
It also pointed out that recorded crime overall had fallen by 13% year-on-year, taking into account the 12 months to November this year.
Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the positive outcome rate “on the face of it…does not look good, nor is it reassuring for the public”.
Mr McDonald said: “I don’t think people will see that as an acceptable level of success, but we need to get behind those statistics and understand why it is so low, as it appears, whether Cleveland Police is on a par with other comparable forces and what needs to be done to secure improvements.
“What we do know is that despite boasting from the Government that they have restored police numbers – that they themselves cut in the first place – in Cleveland we are still way short of the numbers we had in 2010.”
Mr McDonald said the picture being painted by the force was a positive one, but it was not the experience of people who had complained to him about crime in the town and he also referenced a concern about neighbourhood policing levels in some areas.
In a recent strategic update which revealed some crime outcomes Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner said he was “keen to continue to explore with Cleveland Police how outcome rates can be improved through increased charging, cautioning and importantly through the use of out of court disposals”.
Mr Turner said he was encouraging the force to make greater use of Cleveland Divert, an out of court disposal scheme his office commissions in partnership with the Probation Service.
It aims to divert individuals who have committed a first time or low level offence away from the criminal justice system and stop them from re-offending by addressing underlying causes of offending behaviour, with a similar scheme in operation for juveniles.
The same update also said that the current headcount for officers in Cleveland stood at 1,493 – this encompassing the 12 months to March this year – a 3% increase over the period.
Mr Turner previously set out plans for the figure to reach 1,500, which he said would be the highest level since 2014.
‘Extremely difficult period’
Councillor Tony Riordan, who is chairman of Cleveland’s Police and Crime Panel and a former senior detective with the Cleveland force, said: “The force has come through an extremely difficult period and every aspect of the victim’s journey was recently scrutinised in detail by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
“I am confident that under the leadership of Chief Constable Mark Webster and his command team, together with the officers and staff, every investigative, and appropriate, line of enquiry is pursued to achieve a positive outcome for victims of crime.”
In July a publication by the Home Office assessing outcomes assigned to offences recorded in England and Wales in the 12 months to the end of March this year said that only 5.7% of crimes, excluding fraud and computer misuse, resulted in a charge and/or summons.
This was a slight rise on 5.5% the previous year and was said to have halted a “long-term downward trend” dating back to 2015.
It said the most common reason for a case being closed – and thus there being no positive outcome – was no suspect being identified with 39.3% of cases being closed this way.
Burglaries in particular have been in the national spotlight with new national policing guidance recently being issued stating officers should prioritise attending the scene of a domestic break-in within an hour of any report with so-called “golden hour” enquiries potentially making “the difference between early identification and arresting a suspect and/or recovering stolen property or not”.
The average number of burglaries detected across all force areas is currently about 5%.
The LDRS asked Cleveland Police if it could share the most recent positive outcome crime rates in their entirety, covering all categories of crime, but was told that this may require a Freedom of Information request, given the level of detail involved.
A spokeswoman for the force said: “Cleveland Police continues to make improvements in the service provided to the public and is committed to achieving the best outcomes for any victim of crime.
“Overall crime rates have fallen by 13% compared to November 2022 and the positive outcomes rates over the past four months have improved above the year average, particularly for robbery and sexual offences.
“There is variation between outcomes rates across crime types which reflects the complexities of investigation of differing crimes.”
She added: “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure we are providing the best possible service to victims and witnesses of crime, and to achieve the most appropriate positive outcomes for them and our communities through professional, thorough, proportionate and timely investigation.”
In September Cleveland Police was moved out of effective special measures following an inspection earlier in the year by HMICFRS and a subsequent revisit with Mr Webster praised for bringing “greater stability” to the force and said by Mr Turner to have provided “outstanding leadership”.
The chief constable, who joined in April 2022, said the proportion of residential burglaries, robberies against the person, vehicle crime and theft from a person being solved was “above average” and Cleveland Police had also significantly improved the quality of prosecutions put before the courts.
He also described how there were “many more examples of how Cleveland Police has improved”, but there was still much more to be done.