Is it true that the police on average solve one crime in every 6 years?

Question

just what I have read, I thought it was much longer than that

Answer 1

In between that they twiddle their thumbs, eat doughnuts, drink tea, and catch anyone going 1 mile an hour above the speed limit.

*Edit* My thoughts exactly Sonia!!

Answer 2

I doubt that it is true, but I would like to see the context of the so-called report that you read. Does that time also include the time to get to court and time in court to prosecute? That in itself could add a few years.

But I will point out that solving so-called cold cases, of which I'm sure there are many, will boost the average soultion time by more than is truly representative.

Consider that if you have solved a crime in one year, and then another crime in one year, and one cold crime after thirty years, then the average is 10.6 years to solve a crime, even though "typically" it is one year.

Notice also that if you improve your incremental solving ability by fifty percent, and solve a crime in six months, and the other crime in six months, and the cold crime after 30 years, the average is still 10.3 years, even though you have improved the typical solution time by half.

Long solution times really streach out the averages more than they truly represent.

Further, you can take almost any position, for or against, and find stats to support it. That is the unfortunate part about stats, and many people just don't realize that when reading something in the paper.
So be carefful about where stats come from, they are often more useful as writers tricks than as true data.

And, for the record, I'm no cop, I'm an engineer who dealt with statistical data detection most of my life.

Answer 3

No, real police solve on average 11 crimes per year each, the stuuf in the papers is about the community officers thats aren't proper police, they are the ones that only solve 1 crime per 6 years in average.

=:-)

Answer 4

Correct Littlebethan.
However, where I lived 6 months ago, we had a wonderful PCSO who was a leading contributor to the solving of a lot of crimes in the area. He was like a ferret, not in appearance, but the way he followed up intelligence and assisted the regular bobbies to arrest the culprits.

Answer 5

no they are talking about the pcso's not the police - two different things with different roles.

Police Community Support Officers solve one crime every six years, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The figures show PCSOs hand out fines for anti-social behaviour, public disorder or motoring offences at a rate of one every four months, according to the Daily Mail.

In several areas of the country, officers failed to detect a single crime over the past year, the paper claimed.

The figures state that forces where PCSOs failed to detect any offences include the West Midlands, which has 644 officers, Northumbria, which has 248 PCSOs, and Nottinghamshire which is served by 217 PCSOs.

The Police Federation's Alan Gordon said: "PCSOs have been seen by some as a cheap alternative to police officers, who can make the public feel safe. But these figures show we were right to be concerned about what benefits they bring to the table."

In the past year the number of PCSOs nationwide has risen from 7,000 to 13,748.

PCSOs, who can earn up to £24,500 a year, have powers to detain suspects until police arrive and hand out fixed-penalty notices for a range of offences.

A Home Office spokesman said detecting crime and handing out penalty notices was not the prime function of PCSOs.

He said: "To attempt to measure their success solely by looking at the number of penalty notices and crimes they detect is to miss the point.

"Their primary role is to provide high-visibility reassurance, build confidence in communities and support police officers."

Answer 6

I don't know where this 'statistic' comes from or if it is even accurate but I know that I can sometimes 'solve' several crimes in one week let alone 1 every 6 years.

As the way that the actual crime statistics are worked out is flawed anyway, I would suggest that even if this statistic you are referring to has been published, its probably inaccurate, as are the crime figures in the UK.

Answer 7

No, that's the Community Support Officers. Their job isn't to solve crime, it's to assist the Police in solving crime.

Answer 8

it incredibly is a superb fact, even nevertheless it incredibly is fake. The form continues to be extreme, approximately one each 17+ hours. And their crime fee is going down. See link. Your source is via no potential a relible source, they sensationalize information articles with the intention to get donations. the super subject with Chicago on the subject of weapons is that close by Indiana has not often any gun rules and straw adult adult males purchase weapons there and then resells them in Chicago. Gary, Indiana is solid next to Chicago and that's an subject-free tension. If there's a federal regulation or if Indiana enacts gun rules, then the crime in Chicago will pass down. a solid occasion is Austrailia. Homicides went right down to 260 a twelve months and the share of homicides utilizing firearms is right down to around sixteen% of that form (source: Austrailian Institute of Criminology). z

Answer 9

Community Support Officers, not actual Police.

Answer 10

Not true. Think about it. We get called all the time for larcenies, assaults, etc. and have a suspect present or in the area. I pretty much solve several crimes every night.

Answer 11

Obviously, your brain cells have been replaced by FAT!

And remember its a report in the Daily Mail!!

Full Story:

Police Community Support Officers solve one crime every six years, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.


The figures show PCSOs hand out fines for anti-social behaviour, public disorder or motoring offences at a rate of one every four months, according to the Daily Mail.

In several areas of the country, officers failed to detect a single crime over the past year, the paper claimed.

The figures state that forces where PCSOs failed to detect any offences include the West Midlands, which has 644 officers, Northumbria, which has 248 PCSOs, and Nottinghamshire which is served by 217 PCSOs.

The Police Federation's Alan Gordon said: "PCSOs have been seen by some as a cheap alternative to police officers, who can make the public feel safe. But these figures show we were right to be concerned about what benefits they bring to the table."

In the past year the number of PCSOs nationwide has risen from 7,000 to 13,748.

PCSOs, who can earn up to £24,500 a year, have powers to detain suspects until police arrive and hand out fixed-penalty notices for a range of offences.

A Home Office spokesman said detecting crime and handing out penalty notices was not the prime function of PCSOs.

He said: "To attempt to measure their success solely by looking at the number of penalty notices and crimes they detect is to miss the point.

"Their primary role is to provide high-visibility reassurance, build confidence in communities and support police officers."