Car Crime In Cheltenham (Image: Getty)
The UK’s car crime epidemic has been effectively decriminalised with police failing to solve almost 80% of the thousands of offences being committed against fed-up motorists on a daily basis.
Shock new Home Office data reveals that on average 78.5% of all car thefts go unsolved, with police taking over 24 hours to even respond to calls from those who have fallen victims.
The latest quarterly figures show a total of 24,837 unsolved car crimes in the three months to June 2024 across England and Wales.
And in an even more damning blow to victims just 2.8% of thefts, representing just under 900 cases, ended with the criminal being charged or summonsed across the whole of England and Wales.
London’s Metropolitan Police reported the worst figures, with a staggering 90% of all reported car thefts going unsolved, closely followed by South Yorkshire where 85% of thefts were unsolved.
Meanwhile car crime hotspots of Essex, Wiltshire, Sussex and Hertfordshire all reported that at least 80% of car thefts were unsolved in the quarter ending June 2024.
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This compared with 38% in the best-performing force, Dyfed-Powys in Wales, and Norfolk, where just 39% went unsolved.
The data, compiled by the Liberal Democrats, also showed that police took up to 24 hours to respond to calls from victims as car theft was deprioritised in favour of “higher harm” offences.
Freedom of Information requests revealed that in Durham victims were left waiting an average of 23 hours and 54 minutes for an officer to arrive at the scene in 2023, while wait times in Cleveland were nearly 13 hours on average.
By contrast, it was seven minutes 38 seconds in Avon and Somerset followed by 15 minutes 25 seconds in Humberside, 17 minutes 23 seconds in south Yorkshire and 21 minutes three seconds in Warwickshire.
The new figures follow previous Liberal Democrat research that revealed last year, police did not even attend the scene in over 70% of car theft cases.
Ed Davey’s party have slammed the previous Conservative government for these figures, arguing that years of ineffective resourcing has left frontline policing decimated and destroyed Tory claims of being the party of law and order.
This includes the decision to take over 4,500 Police Community Support Officers off the streets since 2015.
They are now calling on the new Labour administration to urgently restore proper community policing, where officers have the time and resources to properly respond to neighbourhood crimes like car theft.
Lib Dem Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart MP said: “Tens of thousands of victims across England and Wales are being left without the justice they deserve, with a staggeringly high number of car thefts going unsolved, and thieves getting away scot free.
“This cannot continue. Every victim of a crime deserves to feel safe and protected by the police, but unfortunately after brutal cuts to community police officers that is far from the truth.
“We urge the new government to change the course by getting tough on crime, investing properly in local neighbourhood policing and keeping communities safe.”
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Liberal Democrat MPO Lisa Smart with party leader Sir Ed Davey (Image: PA)
The UK’s car crime epidemic has been effectively decriminalised with police failing to solve almost 80% of the thousands of offences being committed against fed-up motorists on a daily basis.
Shock new Home Office data reveals that on average 78.5% of all car thefts go unsolved, with police taking over 24 hours to even respond to calls from those who have fallen victims.
The latest quarterly figures show a total of 24,837 unsolved car crimes in the three months to June 2024 across England and Wales.
And in an even more damning blow to victims just 2.8% of thefts, representing just under 900 cases, ended with the criminal being charged or summonsed across the whole of England and Wales.
London’s Metropolitan Police reported the worst figures, with a staggering 90% of all reported car thefts going unsolved, closely followed by South Yorkshire where 85% of thefts were unsolved.
Meanwhile car crime hotspots of Essex, Wiltshire, Sussex and Hertfordshire all reported that at least 80% of car thefts were unsolved in the quarter ending June 2024.
Police are failing to respond to soaring car crime (Image: Getty)
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It comes as car hacking technology bought online by organised crime gangs has been blamed for fuelling an almost 20 per cent rise in vehicle thefts.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) says criminals are increasingly turning to devices which enable them to hack into and drive off with high-end cars – without having to steal the keys.
The so-called “electronic compromise” thefts also bypass keyless fobs, which have been the subject of increased security by car manufacturers after being targeted by thieves in recent years.
There is also growing evidence that increasing numbers of thieves are towing cars from driveways or the side of the road in broad daylight.
Car security companies said they had seen an “alarming” rise in thefts in which criminals using tow trucks often wear high-visibility clothing in an attempt to appear legitimate.