British cops outsource criminal investigations, tell some victims to do it yourself

British boys in blue seem to have sent out a loud and clear signal to would-be victims: We’re pretty busy so please, help investigate your own crimes — particularly those that involve property damages and stolen cars.

The Independent reported that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the HMIC, found that 37 of 43 police forces in England and Wales only communicated with crime victims over the telephone — they never bothered to make a personal appearance. And 17 of the forces even failed to recognize when victims were considered vulnerable, facing further risk, the report found.

The report investigators says they were particularly concerned to discover that some crime reports only led to officers jotting down the details of the complaint over the telephone — without then following up with investigation.

“When a crime has been committed, it’s the job of the police service to go and find out who’s done it and bring them to justice,” said Roger Baker, one of the report inspectors and authors, The Independent reported. “They’re the cops and we expect the cops to catch people. Unless you’ve got the powers of Mystic Meg or something like that, you not turning up and using your skills — it’s going to be mightily difficult to bring people to justice.”

Mr. Baker said he was concerned that some crimes, like property damages and stolen vehicles, were just dropping off police radars altogether.

“It’s more of a mindset,” he went on, The Independent reported, “that we no longer deal with these things. And effectively what’s happened is a number of crimes are on the verge of being decriminalized. So it’s not the fault of the individual staff — it’s a mindset thing that’s crept into policing to say ’we’ve almost given up.’”

Sir Hugh Orde, the head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, meanwhile, said the report only highlights what’s common sense among law enforcement — that crimes are investigated according to priority, based on budget and manpower limits.

“The reality of austerity in policing means that forces must ensure that their officers’ time is put to best use and this means prioritizing calls,” he said, The Independent reported. “In some instances, this may mean that a report of a crime where the victim is not in imminent danger or the offender is not still the immediate vicinity will be dealt with over the phone.”