Police departures led to surge in crime

Dan Santy

10 November. Updated: 11 November 11:44

BURGLARIES in Rugby shot up around the same time experienced detectives were moved out of the borough because of savage police budget cuts, a new report has revealed.
The number of homes broken into between April and August rocketed by three quarters compared to the same period the previous year, according to Rugby Borough Council's Crime and Disorder committee - with 202 carried out in the four month period.
And in a report attempting to explain the surge, one of the main reasons given was the loss of detectives moved from Rugby to Nuneaton in May as Warwickshire Police were forced to make radical operational changes to save cut budget costs.
The report was penned by Rugby Community Safety Partnership manager Keith Newell who said: "I did question the rationale to remove all the detectives and investigative resources from Rugby to Nuneaton.
"From my 32 years police experience it was clear to me Rugby’s crime profile dictated the need for local detectives to be based in Rugby."
By June burglaries in Rugby were so high - with as many as 20 every week - that detectives had to be brought back from Nuneaton to get the situation under control.
And they quickly succeeded, making around 12 arrests a month since June and cutting the number of burglaries to levels lower than those experienced at the same time last year.
Their success has been put down to the fact they know who the most high profile offenders are, and where they dispose of stolen goods, allowing them to get those responsible off the streets much quicker.
Mr Newell offered other explanations for the rise in burglaries, describing the causes as a 'cocktail of ingredients' which had made the current situation difficult to manage.
He said: "We are very frustrated about court outcomes. We have cited examples of totally inappropriate bail conditions being imposed and have taken the high profile cases to the Crown Prosecution Service for comment.
"In addition, and due to the demand on prison places, most offenders are being released well before sentence end dates leaving us with even more offenders in our communities for us to manage."
For the time being, the detective team moved back from Nuneaton remains in Rugby, and Mr Newell said he would continue pressuring Warwickshire Police to keep them in the borough long-term.
Top wards for burglaries are New Bilton and Caldecott, with the items most stolen being laptops and games consoles.
In a third of burglaries, entry into houses was gained by unsecured doors and windows. This was described as worrying by Mr Newell.