Half of Police Forces Given Low Grades in Investigating Crime by Watchdog

Only an ‘unacceptably low’ number of crimes are being solved following investigations, prompting major inspections to be rolled out next year.

Metropolitan Police officers outside the Houses of Parliament, in London, on March 21, 2023. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Half of police forces have been given low grades for failing to investigate crime properly, according to an official police watchdog.

Of the 43 forces in England and Wales, 22 were judged by police inspectors to be “inadequate” or “requiring improvement” in investigating crime, the two lowest performance ratings.