Victims in Weston-super-Mare and villages “outraged” as 144 crimes go unsolved a day

Victims in Weston-super-Mare and villages "outraged" as 144 crimes go unsolved a day

Weston's Liberal Democrats have slammed the Conservatives for being "asleep at the wheel" after new analysis reveals that 144 crimes go unsolved in the Avon and Somerset area a day.

Data from the House of Commons Library showed that in the first three quarters of 2022, 39,250 investigations into reported crimes in Avon and Somerset were closed by the police without a suspect identified. This is equivalent to 144 crimes going unsolved every day.

Meanwhile, only 6,094 or 6% of all crimes reported in our area resulted in a charge or summons - meaning hundreds of criminals are left off the hook as victims are denied justice.

These figures come as the Home Office looks set to miss its target of recruiting 20,000 more police officers by the end of next month. Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) numbers have also dwindled under the Conservative's watch, with the number of active PCSOs falling by an average of 33% in England and Wales since 2015.

Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and have the time to focus on preventing and solving crimes.

Commenting on the shocking figures, Cllr Patrick Keating, LibDem Spokesperson for Weston-super-Mare said:

"The Conservatives are asleep at the wheel when it comes to tackling crime - and it's our communities in Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding villages who are paying the price."

"Victims will be rightly outraged that so many crimes are going unsolved as Conservative cuts leave our police forces overstretched and under-resourced."

"Liberal Democrats are calling for a return to proper community policing where officers are visible and have the time to focus on preventing and solving crimes. It's the only way to make sure people feel safe, like they deserve."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Source: Home Office, Police recorded crime open data Police Force Area tables from year ending March 2013 onwards.

The House of Commons Library provided the number of outcomes currently recorded for all offences; the number of outcomes recorded as "Investigation complete - no suspect identified", "Charged/ Summonsed" and those "Not yet assigned an outcome" in England and Wales, broken down by police force, for each quarter of 2021 and 2022 until Q3 2022.