In the second part of a special report into crime in the UK, Tonight with Trevor McDonald looks at the public's experience of falling detection rates.
In part one on Monday, Tonight uncovered new evidence that Britain's detectives are near to breaking point.
What Tonight revealed on Monday's programme
“Life from Mars’ is great, The Sweeney’s great, The Bill’s great – you never see them filling out a form. You never see them filling out any documents. ..I do feel like an administrator. You know, I didn’t join the police to be an administrator. I joined to, as I say, lock up villains and make society safer.” DS William Whale.
Last December, Tonight reported on the concerns of frontline, uniformed officers. This was followed by the government commissioning the recent Flanagan report which promised changes for 24/7 response officers.
In this latest programme, Tonight reporter Fiona Foster turns the spotlight on the detectives that deal with serious and violent crimes such as DS William Whale.
Members of the public have spoken out about their frustrations about how the police have responded to incidents, such as the mother of a 12-year-old boy who was charged with GBH for flicking an elastic band at another pupil in school.
The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, tells Tonight: “He was charged in the police station and they wanted to put him in cells overnight. If my lawyer hadn't stepped in he would have ended up with a criminal record," she says. "The detective simply hadn't done his job. I had to go out and get statements to prove what really happened. It seemed the police just don't care."
But as this programme will exclusively reveal, detectives from nine forces across England and Wales say they do care but are facing major obstacles preventing them from doing their jobs properly.
Frustrated by government targets, buried beneath paperwork and excessive case loads - more and more experienced detectives are quitting CID. And what the programme will reveal about their stories will make for unsettling viewing.
Contact us
Thin Blue Line
Are you are in the force and sometimes feel you are unable to do your job properly? If so we’d like to hear from you, please email us at tonight@itv.com
Mark Jordan is going to be criss-crossing Britain and wants hear about your struggles with crime and whether or not the police have enabled you, your neighbourhood or your business to stay on the safe side of the thin blue line. Please email us at tonight@itv.com
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