New statistics have revealed the number of crimes being solved in Northamptonshire could be set for a 10-year low.
A Freedom of Information request has shown the sanction detection rate across the county so far this year is currently 23.3 per cent. It means fewer than a quarter of crimes in Northamptonshire are currently being resolved.
The figures revealed the number of recorded crimes when people were charged, cautioned, issued with a summon, fined or prosecuted.They showed that in 2003/04, resolution rates stood at 27.8 per cent. The number of resolved crimes peaked in 2010/11, when 28.5 per cent of recorded crime in the county was solved.
MP for Northampton South, Brian Binley, said he was worried about the number of crimes going unresolved.
He said: “It is concerning, I think it has a lot to do with people simply being issued with a crime number so they can claim their insurance back. I have personally experienced that myself.”
He said it was an issue he hoped the new Police and Crime Commissioner, who will be elected today, will face when he takes office next week.
He added: “I think we should be talking about this. In the old days you had a bobby on the beat and they knew people and picked up information and they did important work.”
In response, Superintendent Gary Aston said: “The sanction detection rate does not provide a complete picture.
“We are only part way through the year and it is only at the completion of the financial year that we can assess an increase or decrease.
“We often find that sanction detection rates peak towards the end of the year and the total is likely to vary at that point.
“The force is increasingly training officers and police community support officers to deliver out-of-court disposals and community resolutions, which would not be captured in the sanction detection totals.”
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