How police plan to cut crime: They won't count vandalism

A leaked memo has revealed that rank-and-file officers in the Norfolk force have been told that incidents such as car vandalism should not be classed as an offence when there is "no idea how it happened".

The disclosure brought accusations last night that the force is trying to massage crime figures by ignoring acts of vandalism.

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Details of the policy emerged in the memo from an inspector in Norwich, which said that one of this year's targets was to "keep recorded crime down to 1,500". It is believed the inspector was referring to a sector of the city.

It added: "We appear to be making things difficult for ourselves by 'criming' things which aren't actually crimes.

"One example is where a car window is found to be damaged, no entry to vehicle, no witnesses and no idea how it happened.

"This has been recorded as criminal damage, even though there is no evidence to suggest it fits the definition. If there is no evidence of someone intending to destroy or be reckless then there is no crime."

The memo added: "Please ask yourself if there is evidence of a crime or if it is more appropriate to deal with it in a different way."

One PC, who declined to be named, said: "It is simply impossible for a car window to be smashed on its own - yet somehow it is being suggested that these things happen spontaneously."

The whistleblower who released the document said police chiefs regularly discussed how to downgrade more serious offences.

"This is just a blatant example to cut crime by fiddling the stats - it's quite outrageous really," he said.

"What's worse is that if they are not going to record it, it's not going to show the true picture of what's going on in an area."

Criminal damage accounts for one in five of all crimes recorded nationally. According to the British Crime Survey, the number of incidents of criminal damage in England and Wales in 2006 was around 2,731,000. More than half of these (1,697,000) were against vehicles.

A total of 62,626 crimes were recorded in Norfolk in 2006 to 2007. Of these, 17,258 involved criminal damage - and fewer than half were investigated.

Last night Tory home affairs spokesman James Brokenshire said: "There can't be anything worse than finding out you have been the victim of a crime and then are told it is not being recorded and dealt with.

"What's driving this is absurd government targets which don't give police proper discretion and allow them to deal with crimes people want them to.

"As a result, police officers and police chiefs are forever trying to massage figures."

Jan Berry, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rankand-file officers, said: "Very rarely do car windows get damaged unless someone commits an act of criminal damage.

"Police officers are under tremendous pressure to demonstrate numerically that they are doing a good job, such as through the number of tickets they give out and the number of arrests that are made.

"I would scrap targets and go back to the drawing board. Crime statistics have become a science in their own right. They have never been a true reflection of crime."

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis added: "This is another example of Labour's diktat culture forcing the police to focus their efforts on the wrong priorities and meet the Government's bureaucratic targets."

Ian Johnston, president of the Police Superintendents' Association, said: "Downgrading or not recording a crime is wrong but I can understand why that's happening. Everyone is under pressure to come up with the right results."

The Norfolk force yesterday denied any attempt to falsify crime figures and said it was trying to ensure incidents were accurately recorded.

A spokesman said: "Our priority is to direct resources to impact upon the local issues that concern people. We won't properly do this unless we have the right information to start with."

The Association of Chief Police Officers said all police forces were subject to external auditing procedures to ensure they "record crimes appropriately and in compliance with the rules".

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Government takes seriously the importance of having an accurate crime recording system in order to best protect the public."

The Association of British Insurers said claims for criminal damage would not be affected if police refused to issue crime numbers.

"What the police do when you have reported an incident of damage is up to them," a spokesman added.