Crime figures 'show chronic shortage of detectives' in North

Less than a quarter of crimes in Northern Ireland last year were detected by police, it was revealed today.

New figures show that out of more than 142,000 offences reported to police, less than 33,000 were cleared – a rate of just 23%.

The figures were even worse in the urban region, incorporating the district command units of Belfast and outlying council areas.

Here detection rates were as low as 15% with an average of 17.4%.

Chief Constable Hugh Orde said lack of resources and a shortage of experienced detectives had continued to place great strain on the service.

“The demands of crime remain high and this, coupled with road policing, community safety, public disorder and the ever-present menace of terrorist activity places a great strain on our officers.

“We are continually faced with the issue of allocating resources in an appropriate manner and there are still skill gaps within the service, particularly with regard to the lack of experienced detectives,” he said.

But the statistics, revealed in his first annual report, showed a small improvement in the clear-up rate with an increase of 2.9% on the number of offences dealt with in the previous year.

Members of the Policing Board said the low rates reflected manpower problems caused by the reforms in policing over the last few years.

The DUP’s Ian Paisley Jr blamed the figures on the fallout from the Patten Report on changes to policing, which drastically reduced the numbers of officers.

“The police service has been demoralised. They don’t have sufficient experienced police officers because of the severance scheme and as a result, the police aren’t equipped to do the job,” he said.

But Joe Byrne, an SDLP representative on the board, said the report had demonstrated a marginal improvement over the past year.

“One of the handicaps in the current PSNI service is the shortage of detectives, particularly experienced CID detectives,” he said.

“The Policing Board through its manpower resource strategy in conjunction with the Chief Constable, is determined and focused on resolving these difficulties.” Fred Cobain, an Ulster Unionist member of the board said there would be no quick fixes to the problems of policing.

“People are getting a bit frustrated but it is going to take time. There has been a total reorganisation of where we were three years ago,” he said.

“This is an organisation undergoing a transformation which has presented enormous difficulties for personnel but I am sure the figures will be better and improving over time.”

Mr Orde said his policy of putting civilians into desk jobs was gathering momentum and was helping free officers for frontline duties.

“Communities across Northern Ireland want to see police on their streets, combating crime in their areas,” he added.

Meanwhile, the report also revealed that more than £18m (€26m) in illegal drugs and counterfeit goods were seized by police in Northern Ireland last year.

They were recovered as part of a major police offensive against organised crime gangs.

Up to £11m (€15m) of drugs ranging from cannabis, heroin to crack cocaine were found in searches, a sizeable increase in last year’s amount of £6.5m (€9.4m).

It also revealed £7m (€10m) worth of fake computer goods, videos, perfume and clothes were seized during raids on markets and secret hideouts used by criminals.

Mr Orde said the successes were down to intelligence led, proactive policing.

“We have enjoyed significant successes in the fight against organized crime and drugs over the past year through our work with the Organised Crime Task Force,” he said.

Vehicle theft was shown to have fallen by 7.6% and police chiefs believe the creation of a dedicated Auto Crime Team in the West Belfast and Lisburn areas made a significant contribution to this figure.

However, road deaths remained a serious problem with 158 people killed five up on the previous year.

During Operation Viper, more than 5,500 people were reported for traffic offences in one of the largest single initiatives launched by road policing units over a six day period.

Meanwhile, the Policing Board today began its recruitment process for a new chief executive.

The appointee will replace the current chief executive, Bob McCann who resigned the post earlier this month and will be leaving in September.