Investigating Crime Monitor

Recommendations made (8 for chief constables)

11

Increase in recorded crime per officer since 2015

32%

Positive outcome rate for recorded crime (was 25.4% in 2015)

11.3%

Charge or summons rate (was 15.5% in 2015)

6.4%

What HMICFRS found

• Investigative mindset absent at first contact. Officers in some forces explicitly told inspectors their role was to respond and move on, not to investigate. The golden hour was too often missed
• Stalking and harassment cases at risk from poor allocation. The best-practice example (Cumbria) had a detective sergeant reviewing all stalking and harassment crimes before deciding which team to allocate them to
• In two of seven forces, only 30% and 41% of investigations were allocated to the right officers. A PIP level 1 officer was investigating an allegation involving digital evidence and potential child exploitation with 'no understanding' of how to proceed
• Supervision effective in only 138 of 180 applicable cases (77%). One sergeant supervised 125 crimes across a team of 5. Many supervisors had not supervised an investigation in ten years
• Victim needs assessments appropriate in only 77% of relevant cases. Only 86% of cases received an appropriate level of service under the Victims' Code
• Forces don't join the dots on repeat victims. The Victims' Commissioner specifically named stalking and harassment as offence types where this failure was most damaging, and noted identifying victims becomes more complicated 'when there were counter-allegations'
• Call handlers gave appropriate evidence-preservation advice in only 78% of applicable cases (625 of 803)
• No consistent model for investigator numbers. Volume crime loses out, and stalking and harassment is classified as volume crime in most force allocation policies. 36% of officers had fewer than 5 years' service in 2024, up from 14% in 2016

Eleven recommendations, deadlines mostly passed

• R3 (Dec 2025): effective end-to-end online crime reporting process. Passed
• R4 (Dec 2025): minimise delays receiving and allocating crime reports. Passed
• R5 (Dec 2025): allocate crimes to investigators with commensurate training and experience. Passed
• R6 (Sep 2025): clear policy on investigation plans. Passed
• R7 (Jun 2025): PND facial searching before closing an investigation. Passed
• R8 (Dec 2025): Home Office / NPCC awareness campaign on PND. Passed
• R9 (Dec 2025): early supervisory review of crime investigations. Passed
• R10 (Mar 2026): training across all investigative roles
• R11 (Sep 2025): monitor proportion of recorded crime allocated for investigation. Passed
• R1 & R2 (Mar 2026): understand demand; design more effective processes
• College of Policing / NPCC / HMICFRS (Mar 2026): evaluate crime recording and investigation models