Police forces across England and Wales are abandoning investigations into four reported crimes every single minute without ever identifying a suspect, according to stark new official figures.
A Crisis in Crime Solving
The data for the year to June reveals a deeply troubling picture of law enforcement outcomes. Out of 5.3 million crimes logged, a staggering 2,040,976 were closed with 'investigation complete – no suspect identified'. This equates to 38.6% of all recorded offences and an average of 5,592 such cases every day.
Furthermore, only 7.6% of reported crimes resulted in a suspect being charged or summoned to court. This means just 402,692 cases led to potential prosecution. While this marks a slight increase from 6.7% the previous year, it remains drastically below the 15% charge rate seen a decade ago.
Victims Left Without Justice
The figures expose particularly low outcomes for serious offences. A mere 3% of reported rapes led to a suspect being charged. For 'violence against the person' the rate was 6.3%, for robbery 8.1%, and for theft 7.6%. House burglaries had a shockingly low charge rate of just 4.8%.
In addition to cases closed with no suspect, a further 679,802 investigations were dropped due to 'evidential difficulties' despite victims still wanting to pursue justice. Another 1.3 million cases were ended because victims withdrew support for police inquiries.
Reform and Response
The charge rate has risen slowly from a low of 5.4% in 2022, despite significant investment in police recruitment under the previous government. While officer numbers hit a record 147,745 in March 2024, they have since fallen by over 1,300.
In response, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing to outline major plans to overhaul police performance. It has been widely reported that she intends to slash the number of forces in England and Wales from 43 to just 12, having previously described the current structure as 'irrational'.
Mahmood has also warned senior officers that police should not investigate people for making 'perfectly legal' remarks online, amid concerns that politically-motivated complaints are wasting resources and eroding free speech.
The Home Office announced last week that police budgets will rise by £798 million to £19.5 billion next financial year, a 4.3% increase.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticised the figures, stating: 'The police are not solving enough crimes. It is not acceptable that only 6.7% of crimes get solved, meaning 94% go unsolved.' He urged greater use of technology like facial recognition to bring more perpetrators to justice.
A National Police Chiefs' Council spokesman said every crime is assessed and all reasonable lines of enquiry are pursued. 'Not every case will result in criminal charges being brought - this depends on the evidence available,' they added.
The analysis also highlighted a rise in the use of informal 'community resolutions', which were applied in 3% of reported crimes. These involve an offender admitting guilt and possibly apologising or doing unpaid work, but the offence is logged as 'no further action' on their record.
