Victims of petty crime like car theft in Britain are being increasingly told to become ‘detectives’ and investigate their own cases by some police forces, Press Trust of India ( PTI ) reported.

 

The Inspectorate of Constabulary, the official police watchdog for England and Wales, found in a report this ‘do-it-yourself’ or DIY trend was linked with some high-volume types of offences such as car crimes, criminal damage and non-residential burglaries.

These offences are on the verge of being decriminalised, it warned.

“The Inspectorate of Constabulary finds this expectation by these forces that the victims should investigate their own crimes both surprising and a matter of material concern,” said the report released yesterday.

 

“The police have been given powers and resources to investigate crime by the public, and there should be no expectation on their part that an inversion of that responsibility is acceptable,” it said.

According to the findings, victims of such crimes were often asked to speak to neighbours, check for closed-circuit television (CCTV) images and see if their stolen property has been put up for sale on second-hand websites.

“It’s more a mindset that we no longer deal with these things. It’s not the fault of the individual staff; it's a mindset thing that's crept in to policing to say ‘We’ve almost given up’,” said Inspector Roger Baker, who led the review.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said that austerity measures and staff shortages meant forces had to set priorities.

“The reality of austerity in policing means forces must ensure that their officers’ time is put to best use and this means prioritising calls,” ACPO president Hugh Orde said.

The report concludes that police desk-based investigations of crime are failing to serve the public and mean little or nothing more than recording a crime without taking further action.

- Bernama