Hampshire police to attend every home burglary report in crackdown on 'abhorrent crime'

Previously, officers have physically been deployed when a crime is in progress – reports being assessed for harm, threat and risk.

But after a review of burglary deployment in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and pressure from police and crime commissioner Donna Jones as part of her police and crime plan to prioritise community crimes, police will follow up every report of residential burglary.

The force said there had been 3,032 dwelling burglaries across the county from September 1, 2022, to August 31 this year. The previous year the figure for the same period was 2,624 and for 2019/20 it was 3,469.

The authority said dip sampling of reports between January and July 2022 indicated police have attended between 65-70 per cent of dwelling burglary reports during this period.

But police were not able to give the number of dwelling burglary reports there were for the same period. ‘It’s difficult to provide exact figures for our attendance to burglary reports as each report would need to be reviewed to establish what actions were taken,’ a spokesman said.

Ms Jones and acting chief constable Ben Snuggs issued a joint statement, with the commissioner stating it is what the public expect and deserve.

‘Domestic burglaries are an abhorrent crime and victims deserve an initial response and thorough follow up,’ she said.

‘So often we hear about crimes that have been reported but haven’t received the police response we expect, but I know police officers want to investigate these crimes, and I know they want to get justice for victims.

‘Every deployment is an opportunity to identify offenders and increase charge rates.

‘Delivering straightforward policing and visibility in response to crimes that matter the most to people is right and proper and I expect this re-focus on deployment and investigation to have a positive effect on communities in both counties.’

Mr Snuggs said over the past few years, the number of residential burglaries committed in the country, and offences leading to a charge, have fallen – both priority areas to address.

He added that the neighbourhood policing team did ‘review all reports’, even if they did not attend.

‘We know that residential burglary has a huge impact on those affected,’ he said.

‘That is why we are making a commitment to our communities that we will attend every report of a residential dwelling burglary that we receive.

SEE ALSO: Fareham man tosses away good reputation after beating wife ‘black and blue’

‘We are determined that every residential burglary should be responded to effectively and every opportunity used to identify who is responsible.

‘We clearly use our resources based on the demand we experience day by day, which is why previously we may not have always deployed one of our team where, for example, a victim did not identify any forensic or evidential opportunities during their initial contact.

‘By attending all residential dwelling burglary reports, I want to send a very clear message that we will not tolerate these crimes.’

A force spokesman, when questioned on whether police will have enough resources to carry out the policy, said ‘we wouldn’t go into specifics of what resources we deploy and when’.

Police will still review reports to ensure patterns identified and relevant crime prevention advice given.