Suella Braverman says the police DO have the manpower needed to investigate every crime

• Officers were told there was no crime too minor to be investigated
• Home Secretary says Government is working to free forces from bureaucracy 

Police forces have the manpower needed to investigate all crimes, the Home Secretary insisted today.

The pledge to follow all ‘reasonable lines of inquiry’ would ensure a return to ‘common sense, back-to-basics policing’, Suella Braverman said.

In an extraordinary agreement from all forces in England and Wales, officers were told there was no crime too minor to be probed. Police will be forced to act if there is tangible evidence to follow up, including CCTV footage, vehicle dashcams or phone tracking.

The approach would end the practice of overlooking offences perceived as low level, such as shoplifting, phone muggings, car theft and criminal damage.

Mrs Braverman said no crime should be considered minor and insisted police forces had the resources to investigate all offences without having to divert efforts from serious investigations.

Suella Braverman insisted that police had the manpower to investigate all crimes, and said no crime should be considered ‘minor’

The Home Secretary told BBC breakfast that the Government is working to free up police time from ‘needless bureaucracy’

‘The police have a record number of men and women working on their front line than ever before,’ she told BBC Breakfast. ‘This is about ensuring that resources are properly diverted to what I call common sense policing, back-to-basics policing, that they don’t dismiss certain crimes as unimportant or minor.’

She said the Government was working hard to free up police time from ‘needless bureaucracy,’ adding: ‘It’s about ensuring they are freed up from doing other time-consuming tasks.’

The agreement is based on a scheme in Greater Manchester, where chief constable Steve Watson announced in May 2021 that his officers would investigate all crimes and follow up every reasonable line of inquiry.

The force had since reported a 44 per cent increase in charges in the year to March. More than 20,000 recruits joined police forces in the past three years but this boost followed thousands of job cuts as part of austerity measures.

The new commitment comes as part of a ‘crime week’ of policy announcements planned by the Government. It follows a previous pledge from forces to attend every home burglary in a new set of standards announced last year.

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