The worst neighborhoods were Parson Cross, in Sheffield, where all 104 burglaries closed without suspicion. New Arley and Fillongley, in Warwickshire, had 99 unsolved cases. In larger areas covering an average of 7,800 people, one in 15 (6.4 percent) had no burglary resolved in the past three years.
“It is a violation … but I have no sympathy from the police”
Mavis is not surprised when she is told that her North Sheffield neighborhood has had more unsolved burglaries than any other in England and Wales in the last three years. The home of the 76-year-old widow and retired cook in Parson Green was looted by thieves who stole cash, jewelry and a laptop after smashing a back window during a night raid. It has left her feeling nervous about being home alone and too scared to give her full name to an area on the outskirts of Sheffield that had a reputation for antisocial behavior and drug use. Parson Green is one of 14,000 neighborhoods where no burglary has been resolved in the last three years. This represents almost half of the 32,000 neighborhoods across England and Wales. But the burglary – one of 104 undetected burglaries at Parson Green since 2019 – is more than just a statistic for Mavis. Recalling the moment she returned home to find the broken window and her belongings were lost, she said: “It is a violation, a horrible thing that happens, but I have no sympathy from the police.” OAP, who lives alone, said an officer came to visit her three days after calling police. The policeman advised her to install security cameras, telling her: “This happens day by day all over the city”. She said the young computer seemed “indifferent” to her crime. Although it was recorded, he believes that nothing was done to find the perpetrators. “The police did not do it now,” he said. “They should be out there and catch criminals. I’m not surprised that there are so many undetected burglaries in my neighborhood. It ‘s shocking. “It’s probably the same gang that comes back again and again.”
“The feeling of security is seriously shaken”
It is a refrain that has become more and more familiar, despite the reduced number of burglaries. Burglary is a test crime. It is well documented, as most victims report it for insurance reasons. But it is also a place where there can be no bodily injury, reducing the need for an “emergency” response – although everyone, including the police, accepts that it can have a devastating impact. Vera Baird, the victims’ commissioner, said: “Burglary can be a major crime. Victims may feel violated by the experience and their sense of security is severely shaken. “The theft of a bicycle can leave the victims without substantial transportation. “And if a family saves to buy a child a bicycle and then steals it, they may be deeply upset if, as is often the case, there is no money to replace it.” Nevertheless, burglary has not been considered as a police priority. Some have instead introduced systems to “investigate” crimes to decide if they are likely to be investigated. If not, they are not fully explored. These ranged from the seemingly bizarre, where Leicestershire did not fully investigate single-home burglaries to the more sophisticated ones in Norfolk, where artificial intelligence was used to assess the “solvability” of cases based on 29 factors, such as e.g. as criminology, CCTV and location. It means that if CCTV or forensic data are not immediately available, the case will often be closed within a few hours – leaving victims with no prospect of justice and little chance of recovering valuable personal belongings.
