Police taking over nine hours to respond to burglary calls

Police in Hertfordshire are taking an average of nine hours and 28 minutes to respond to burglary calls, damning new figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

This is a dramatic 20% increase on response times compared to figures from 2021/22, where it took an average of seven hours and 55 minutes to respond to burglaries.

Across England, police are taking an average of 9 hours and 8 minutes to show up at the scene when a burglary was reported. This is a 25% increase when compared to the previous year and an 87% increase on burglary response times in 2020/21.

Harpenden & Berkhamsted’s Liberal Democrats have slammed the Conservative Government for these figures, arguing that years of ineffective resourcing have left local police forces overstretched, under-resourced and unable to effectively respond to local crime.

This includes taking more than 4,500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) off the streets since 2015.

The party is calling for a return to proper community policing, where officers are visible, trusted and able to focus on responding to neighbourhood crime like burglaries.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, Victoria Collins said:

“Having your home burgled is a traumatic experience, and victims deserve a swift response from the police. Yet thanks to the Conservative Government, this is increasingly out of reach.

“People in Harpenden, Berkhamsted, Tring and the surrounding villages deserve to feel safe in their own homes. The fact that traumatised burglary victims are being left waiting for hours, wondering if the police will even arrive, is unacceptable. To think that crucial evidence may be lost in the process too is unforgivable.

“It’s time to finally restore proper community policing, so people can be confident that if they do fall victim to crime, the police will turn up and investigate properly.”