§ Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many investigations in the last year resulted in the police taking no further action; and if he will make a statement. [83682]
§ Mr. DenhamDuring 2001–02, 1,291,396 recorded offences were detected by the police of which 199,5671 (15 per cent.) were detected with no further action by the police. This means that 4 per cent, of all recorded crime is detected in this way. More detailed information on method of detection is published in table 8.02 of "Crime in England and Wales 2001–02". A copy of this publication is available in the Library.
The figures for crimes detected with no further action by the police above exclude those undetected crimes that are not investigated beyond initial reporting.
The current methods of detection are:
- Charge/summons
- Caution
- Taken into consideration; and
- Other (no further action)
The "Other" category are those in which the case is not proceeded with -ie there is no legal sanction against the offender.
1 This figure excludes detections for Durham, which are not broken down by method of detection, and thus represent something of an under-estimate.