HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has dubbed seven UK police forces to be “inadequate” in recording reported crime.
Of the fourteen forces inspected, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was seventh worst, failing to record 15 per cent of crime reported to them.
Only three forces — Wiltshire, Staffordshire, and Sussex — were deemed to be “good”. These forces failed to record between five and nine per cent of crimes.
Four forces — Cambridgeshire, Avon and Somerset, Northumbria, and North Wales — were told that their recording of crime required improvement. They failed to record between seven and 12 per cent of crimes.
Leicestershire and Devon & Cornwall forces were found to record the least amounts of crimes reported to them — 24 and 18 per cent respectively.
Inspectors said the failure rate was a “serious concern” and would result in crimes not being investigated properly.
Police have claimed that many crimes were recorded but not classified incorrectly.
In 2014, it was found that UK police failed to record failed to one in five crimes.
HM Inspector Matt Parr said: “If a crime is not recorded correctly it is unlikely to be investigated properly and it can have a direct effect on the prosecution of the perpetrator, who may go on to commit further crimes […] Inexcusably, it denies victims the proper service they are entitled to.”
