HUGE numbers of crimes committed across the county have gone unrecorded by Hertfordshire Police because of widespread confusion about how they should be logged.

An independent audit commissioned earlier this year by Hertfordshire Constabulary's quality review team discovered that scores of crimes that should have been recorded were mistakenly logged as incidents by staff.

The review team claim that 11 per cent of burglaries, 18 per cent of thefts from vehicles and a whopping 30 per cent of criminal damage crimes have been incorrectly registered without a crime reference number.

The blunder means that hundreds of crimes were not investigated by the force and were omitted from annual statistics detailing crime levels in the county.

Hertfordshire Police this week defended the mistake, blaming human error and staffing pressures for the mix-up, but declined to say whether the discrepancies extended to more serious crimes.

However, observers claim the blunder highlights the inadequate training given to staff who record crimes, meaning they are unsure when and in which category certain incidents should be logged.

A spokesman for Hertfordshire Police said the mix-up would have little impact on final statistics because the entire force adopted a new system for recording crimes last month.

Under the new system, known as the National Criminal Recording Standards, all reports of criminal acts are logged as crimes as soon as they are reported, rather than being subject to a police investigation as under the old system.

"The number of crimes will go up but it's a better system because we're working to an initial call-out which is more victim-led," said a spokesman.

"We are now moving into a culture of self-inspection to identify where problems are occurring and to take appropriate action."

The quality review team will now carry out monthly audits to monitor performance across the department using the new software.

June 13, 2002 10:00