Police failed to attend 12,667 burglaries in London last year

12,667 burglaries went unattended by the Metropolitan Police last year, stark figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have shown.

Of the 37,726 burglaries reported, police only arrived at the scene in  25,059 instances - accounting for just 66.4% of cases.

The number of unsolved burglaries in London also soared, with 26,974 cases being closed without a suspect even identified. This is equivalent to 71.5% of all cases.

Nationally, almost four in ten burglaries in the country did not result in a visit to the scene by a police officer. The figures were based on data provided by 19 police forces in England. Another 14 forces refused to provide the figures.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new “Burglary Response Guarantee,” which would create a guarantee that all domestic burglaries are attended by the police and properly investigated.

This will require a return to proper community policing - where officers are visible, trusted, and have the time and resources needed to focus on solving crime.

Since 2015, the Conservatives have taken over 4,000 Police Community Support Officers off the streets, while they look set to have broken their key promise of having recruited an extra 20,000 police officers by the end of March 2023.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Leyton & Wanstead, Tara Copeland said:

“It is shocking that so many burglaries in our community are not being attended by a police officer. No family should be denied justice after suffering the distress and trauma of being burgled.  

“Many families across Waltham Forest now feel unsafe in their own homes, because this Conservative government has left our police forces overstretched and under-resourced. It means far too many victims are being denied justice and far too many criminals are getting away with it.