Nearly 10,000 crimes, including violent offences, sexual offences and domestic abuse, went unrecorded by Lincolnshire Police over a year, according to a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The watchdog found that almost one in five crimes reported to the force were not documented, potentially leaving victims cut off from support services.
Inspector of Constabulary Zoë Billingham described the issue as “of very great concern”. She said: “Although safeguarding measures were in place for many of the victims of crimes, there was little evidence of investigations being undertaken where the crime had not made it on to the books. This is particularly true for cases of domestic abuse.” Billingham stressed that correct crime recording is not merely bureaucratic, but essential for understanding demand and providing support.
The report examined records from 1 June to 30 November 2017 and estimated that about 9,400 reported crimes were not recorded annually—more than 18% of the total. It highlighted that a “large proportion of common assaults and malicious communication offences and a small number of more serious crimes, including sexual offences, grievous bodily harm and rape” were missed. Violent crime recording was particularly poor, with only 72.7% of incidents documented.
Lincolnshire Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Craig Naylor said measures have been introduced to improve recording and insisted the force’s “service has not slipped”. He added: “We are deeply disappointed by this report and absolutely committed to ensuring we resolve the problem quickly and effectively. We have made mistakes and we will not shirk from accepting and correcting them.” A force spokeswoman noted that many cases involved ongoing inquiries where historical incidents had not been correctly recorded.
In a separate report, Humberside Police were graded as “requires improvement” for crime recording, failing to document an estimated 14.3% of reported crimes per year, including sexual offences and violence offences.
