Victims shouldn't expect police visits, says Chief Constable

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ictims of minor crimes should no longer expect police to visit them, a police chief has said.

Sussex Chief Constable Giles York questioned whether an in-person visit served any purpose and said it would be more “convenient” for members of the public to interact with the force online.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mr York said: “If your children are ill, you might quite like the GP to visit you in your house. But it wouldn’t even cross your mind now, to think to call a GP to visit your house.”

He asked: “What’s the purpose of us going there? If it’s just to because the individual wants to see us, is that really the best use of policing time and investigation time?”

Considering how officers should deal with a victim who requested a home visit, he said: “I hope they would explain that someone coming around isn’t going to add any value to your investigation, and actually that person’s time is better spent trying to find the offender than reassuring you.”

He stressed police would still visit those who had suffered serious crimes such as burglaries, but he claimed that many people would prefer to deal with police online rather than waiting for a squad car.

He said: “When I look at the lives my children lead, going shopping is a rarity, going out and meeting in the real world is sometimes a rarity.

"It can often be an awful lot more convenient for people to have a service delivered by email or by text rather than having the commitment of a face-to-face meeting."

Mr York, the digitisation spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, is also in favour of victims composing their own witness statements rather than dictating them to officers.

Matt Webb, Sussex chair of the rank-and-file organisation the Police Federation, backed his boss, saying: “I am not surprised that we are having to take this position.

“Although it will not be want the public want or what officers wish to provide, it is the reality that is forced upon us due to the crippling cuts imposed by this Government over the last seven years.”

He added that additional cuts would mean the force could provide only “the most basic service to the public, having to concentrate funds and attendance on priority incidents and crimes”.

Earlier this year Mr York’s force was criticised after failing to dispatch officers to investigate the theft of a 58-year-old’s £40,000 Jaguar from his driveway.

Kevin Standing from Patcham told his local newspaper it was “unbelievable” that after calling 101 he was told the only thing which could be done was to wait until the car passed an enforcement camera.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said at the time: “"There is no CCTV at the property and the car doesn't have a tracking device. There was nothing left at the scene to help officers if they had attended the property."