ALMOST half the public believe police would not investigate if their home were burgled, a damning survey has revealed.
MPs last night slammed the “crisis in confidence” and called on ministers to restore public trust in cops.
The Savanta survey found just 50 per cent of adults had faith that officers would turn up if they reported a burglary, while 46 per cent did not.
Older people had an especially dim view, with 54 per cent saying they did not think officers would come to their door.
Some 49 per cent do not think police would turn up to a car theft, and an astonishing 41 per cent believe cops would fail to investigate a street assault.
Eight per cent of people said that in the past two years they had needed to call 999 but decided against it.
Of these, one in four said it was because they thought police would take too long to arrive.
Lib Dem Home Affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart said: “These findings are scandalous — but with unsolved crime rates remaining sky-high, it’s difficult to find them shocking.
“People deserve to feel confident that the police will turn up and properly investigate.
“The new Government must act urgently to restore the public’s trust in policing.
“That requires a return to proper community policing — keeping our communities safe with more bobbies on the beat.”
Crimes shelved
POLICE abandoned four unsolved crimes every minute last year.
Officers failed to identify a suspect in more than half of robberies, six in ten criminal damage and arson cases and seven in ten thefts and burglaries, figures from the Home Office show.
More than 2.2million criminal investigations were closed without a culprit in the first half of 2024.
That is 41.3 per cent of all cases and 4.2 crimes a minute.
