10484338Police are failing to recover crucial CCTV footage, new figures suggest

Britain is reported to have one of the highest proportions of CCTV cameras anywhere in the world

CCTV camera
CCTV cameras could be used to catch thousands more criminals Credit: Photo: PA

The Metropolitan Police are failing to recover CCTV footage in almost nine out of ten burglaries and thefts allowing offenders to escape justice, new figures have suggested.

British streets are among the most closely monitored in the world, with thousands of cameras providing round the clock surveillance.

As well as acting as a deterrent, closed-circuit television cameras fixed on pubs, shops, offices and private homes, also provide an excellent investigative tool for catching criminals.

But figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act suggest the police are failing to recover potentially crucial footage in the overwhelming majority of cases involving acquisitive crimes, such as theft and burglary.

In the 12 months between June 2012 and the end of May this year there were 92,490 acquisitive crimes recorded in London where CCTV was available.

However, according to the figures, footage was only recovered in just over 15,354 cases, representing just 16 per cent.

The figures come in the wake of criticism from victims of crime that not enough is being done by the police to trace offenders particularly those responsible for low level offences such as the theft of mobile phones and thefts from motor vehicles.

Earlier this year, it was claimed that almost half of all the reported crimes in the capital were not investigated by the Met due to a lack of available evidence including CCTV.

Figures also obtained under the FOI act suggested that 23 per cent of robberies and 40 per cent of burglaries were “screened out” by the force and not pursued.

Roger Evans, the Tories’ crime spokesman in the London Assembly, who obtained the figures, said more needed to be done to make use of CCTV to cut crime and catch those responsible.

He said: “CCTV is everywhere. In 2007 it was claimed that the UK had 1% of the world's population but 20% of its CCTV cameras. While it is meant to be there to protect us from crime, these figures demonstrate that they are rarely used.”

He added: “A remarkable number of thefts, burglaries and robberies are ‘screened out’ and never investigated by the police. Yet Londoners tell me that when they are victims of such criminality, the crime often takes place directly under CCTV.

“For a number of reasons, the police just aren’t looking at this CCTV in around 85% of cases. As a result, criminals who could have been caught are not. The problem is, until we start taking these crimes seriously, these criminals know they can get away with this.”

He has suggested one way of helping to cut crime would be to adopt a system popular in the United States, where people with private CCTV cameras can register their details with the police force, making it quick and easy for investigating offciers to track down relevant footage.

He said: "Similar schemes are successfully running in places like New Orleans and Philadelphia. In many cases the footage is out there to solve a crime and we should have systems for the police and London’s civic minded people to work together in a simple and cheap way to catch villains.”

Chief Superintendent Chris Bourlet, responsible CCTV strategy in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said:

“CCTV forms a vital element within modern policing and is a vital forensic tool for helping officers’ find evidence or witnesses to solve crime. Already identifying the capture of reported crimes on CCTV is a primary investigative action for officers.

“There are a number of obstacles that officers can face in finding and obtaining CCTV and by our developing better procedures and enhancing officers’ skills we hope to overcome these in the future.

“And whilst not every crime is captured on CCTV, the Met is committed to capitalising on those that are by using dedicated support units, utilising “super recognisers” and maximising our IT resources.”