Police accused of failing crime victims

Police forces must improve how they deal with anti-social behaviour in their communities, the head of the police inspectorate has said.

Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Dennis O’Conner said a failure by police to properly record and tackle incidents risked undermining public confidence in the entire service.

O’Conner said the recording of information about harassment, criminal damage and verbal abuse was “inadequate”.

He added that more than half the 43 forces in England and Wales could not automatically identify repeat victims, leaving officers unaware of the most vulnerable people needing help.

Mr O’Connor said: “It is like going back to the doctors’ surgery but you see a different doctor every time.

“The more times they suffer the less confidence people have. There are some heart-rending stories.”

A snapshot survey by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary found officers did not turn up to almost one in four (23 per cent) anti-social behaviour complaints. Around 3.6 million reports of anti-social behaviour were made in 2008-09, compared with 4.6 million crimes, but officials believe the true figure could be twice as high.

The death in 2007 of Fiona Pilkington, who killed her severely disabled 18-year-old daughter, Francecca, and then committed suicide after a gang of children terrorised them in their home for a decade, highlighted the shortcomings in how police responded to cases in which vulnerable people were tormented.

Mr O’Conner’s comments have come as the inspectorate published “report cards” on the performance of 43 forces.

Nottinghamshire and Greater Manchester received the lowest grades.

Nottinghamshire also recorded the highest rate of violent assaults.

Meanwhile, the top six performers were Cleveland, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumbria and Surrey.