Two mn crimes go unreported every year in Britain
By IANSSaturday, January 22, 2011
LONDON - Around two million offences in Britain every year are not even reported to police because people feel it is a “waste of time”.
Policemen also “screen out” half of the offences they are told about, as they think there is little hope of catching the villains, The Sun reported.
This means three out of four offences - or four crimes every minute - are effectively buried each year.
The figures, revealed by Freedom of Information requests, made a mockery of government statistics that showed a seven percent drop in recorded crime.
Eighteen police forces across the country answered the request for figures.
London’s Met screened out 44 percent of reported offences in 2010, including two rapes, more than 20,000 violent crimes and 7,355 burglaries.
West Yorkshire screened out 46 percent, including 134 sex offences, while about 600 drug crimes were ignored in Gloucestershire.
While, the official British Crime Survey confirms one in two offences goes unreported, a Met spokesman said they concentrated on “potentially detectable” or serious crimes.
