The available information is given in the form of tables showing undetected crime in each financial year from 1998-99 to 2008-09. Tables 1 and 2 show the numbers for undetected homicides; tables 3 and 4 those for undetected sexual offences. As offences detected in the current year may initially have been recorded in an earlier year it is not possible to determine the numbers of undetected crime in a particular year.
It should be noted that non-sanction detections, which contribute to the overall detection rates, have fallen in recent years. This reflects a significant shift by many police forces away from recording detections where no further action is taken. This will have had an impact on the number of crimes which remain undetected.
Undetected 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 Avon and Somerset 2 2 -3 6 Bedfordshire -1 -2 3 0 Cambridgeshire -2 0 -1 4 Cheshire 1 0 0 1 Cleveland 0 1 -2 1 Cumbria 0 1 2 1 Derbyshire 0 2 1 -2 Devon and Cornwall 1 0 2 -1 Dorset 2 -3 0 5 Durham 0 -2 -1 0 Dyfed-Powys 0 1 -1 0 Essex 4 3 2 4 Gloucestershire 2 1 1 3 Greater Manchester -8 6 5 6 Gwent 0 0 1 -1 Hampshire -1 0 3 3 Hertfordshire 0 0 2 -1 Humberside 4 0 4 5 Kent -1 3 2 4 Lancashire 0 1 1 -1 Leicestershire -2 0 2 0 Lincolnshire 2 1 2 -1 London, City of 0 0 0 0 Merseyside 0 -2 7 13 Metropolitan Police 20 45 19 55 Norfolk 2 -2 2 3 Northamptonshire 1 0 0 1 Northumbria -1 0 3 1 North Wales 0 0 0 0 North Yorkshire 0 1 0 0 Nottinghamshire 3 0 4 1 South Wales 1 4 0 -6 South Yorkshire 1 1 -1 6 Staffordshire 4 2 3 -3 Suffolk 0 1 -3 0 Surrey 1 1 7 -3 Sussex 4 -1 5 5 Thames Valley 3 4 4 -1 Warwickshire 0 -1 0 0 West Mercia -2 1 1 0 West Midlands 0 3 8 8 West Yorkshire -1 0 -1 8 Wiltshire 0 1 1 -1 England and Wales 39 73 84 123 Note: Offences detected in any given year may have been previously recorded in an earlier year. When offences detected in the year exceed the number recorded a negative value is shown.
Undetected 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 5 1 4 1 2 1 1 Bedfordshire -1 0 -1 3 -4 -2 1 British Transport Police -1 43 -3 2 0 1 2 Cambridgeshire -2 1 1 2 0 1 2 Cheshire 0 2 1 2 -2 -2 2 Cleveland 2 -1 1 -3 1 0 1 Cumbria 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 Derbyshire 2 0 -3 0 2 0 1 Devon and Cornwall 4 0 0 1 6 5 -1 Dorset 0 0 2 -1 3 -1 0 Durham -2 1 0 0 2 1 -1 Dyfed-Powys 1 0 1 -1 0 1 -1 Essex 6 3 0 9 -3 2 -1 Gloucestershire 2 1 2 1 0 2 -1 Greater Manchester 7 2 15 0 7 6 8 Gwent 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 Hampshire 9 3 4 0 5 2 0 Hertfordshire 1 4 -1 4 -2 1 -1 Humberside 1 5 -32 1 0 1 0 Kent -1 -1 2 1 1 3 0 Lancashire 4 19 -20 -1 0 0 3 Leicestershire 2 2 2 1 4 -2 1 Lincolnshire -3 2 0 0 1 6 4 London, City of 0 0 0 0 1 -1 0 Merseyside 11 9 12 -2 2 3 2 Metropolitan Police 37 6 16 16 27 18 14 Norfolk 2 0 -1 4 -2 1 2 Northamptonshire 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 Northumbria -1 2 -1 2 0 3 -2 North Wales 7 -5 1 1 0 1 -3 North Yorkshire -2 2 -3 0 1 -1 0 Nottinghamshire 4 -1 1 -3 3 -3 2 South Wales -4 3 -2 5 2 -1 1 South Yorkshire 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 Staffordshire 5 0 -2 1 2 1 0 Suffolk 2 0 1 4 2 1 0 Surrey 6 2 3 1 -1 1 -1 Sussex 5 2 5 0 0 4 -1 Thames Valley 7 5 -3 7 1 2 -4 Warwickshire 1 1 -1 4 0 -1 -1 West Mercia 0 3 2 -2 1 3 4 West Midlands 15 0 -4 8 -3 6 5 West Yorkshire -3 19 2 3 4 2 5 Wiltshire 0 1 1 0 1 1 -1 England and Wales 130 137 6 71 69 69 44 Note: Offences detected in any given year may have been previously recorded in an earlier year. When offences detected in the year exceed the number recorded a negative value is shown.
Undetected 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 Avon and Somerset 394 441 673 915 Bedfordshire 260 279 250 269 Cambridgeshire 241 232 278 378 Cheshire 106 76 90 113 Cleveland 104 93 95 87 Cumbria 35 37 30 49 Derbyshire 299 405 482 430 Devon and Cornwall 236 162 229 484 Dorset 213 225 253 316 Durham 82 49 58 181 Dyfed-Powys 28 23 21 28 Essex 695 620 711 721 Gloucestershire 172 176 189 165 Greater Manchester 1,242 1,354 1,340 1,599 Gwent 132 97 55 56 Hampshire 189 663 794 822 Hertfordshire 170 181 289 207 Humberside 501 569 516 651 Kent 499 486 674 702 Lancashire 455 385 531 691 Leicestershire 414 471 437 526 Lincolnshire 129 116 123 225 London, City of 20 16 9 16 Merseyside 335 423 467 657 Metropolitan Police 6,447 7,911 7,566 8,057 Norfolk 168 196 216 281 Northamptonshire 153 97 81 165 Northumbria 531 607 553 649 North Wales 75 72 169 262 North Yorkshire 65 118 125 145 Nottinghamshire 603 675 740 875 South Wales 143 142 145 154 South Yorkshire 223 214 229 253 Staffordshire 372 735 803 815 Suffolk 166 216 251 319 Surrey 80 376 511 446 Sussex 564 697 818 783 Thames Valley 680 824 862 857 Warwickshire 76 108 118 115 West Mercia 206 256 248 469 West Midlands 915 1099 1331 1518 West Yorkshire 690 596 606 751 Wiltshire 114 165 256 220 England and Wales 19,222 22,683 24,186 27,422 Note: The data in this table are prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
Undetected 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 1,306 1,386 1,531 1,113 1,292 1,115 1,095 Bedfordshire 362 437 392 493 350 280 348 British Transport Police 656 795 876 671 700 534 547 Cambridgeshire 540 624 560 572 544 561 523 Cheshire 386 533 585 649 589 484 433 Cleveland 221 409 444 434 397 330 315 Cumbria 89 163 200 179 169 211 192 Derbyshire 716 700 758 754 752 745 702 Devon and Cornwall 813 1,047 1,095 1,085 1,040 1,033 992 Dorset 448 542 500 560 472 579 543 Durham 237 129 170 453 265 285 260 Dyfed-Powys 31 261 289 256 250 208 184 Essex 1,023 1,136 884 973 777 815 846 Gloucestershire 338 322 364 465 470 426 377 Greater Manchester 1,844 2,330 2,430 2,184 2,052 2,048 1,963 Gwent 153 130 248 294 335 430 375 Hampshire 1,078 1,606 1,846 1,951 1,975 1,699 1,634 Hertfordshire 401 435 563 565 612 523 438 Humberside 857 1,136 1,072 943 928 676 665 Kent 857 1,046 1,308 1,334 1260 1,140 935 Lancashire 579 1,014 983 874 830 817 684 Leicestershire 745 768 1,006 948 915 931 856 Lincolnshire 482 501 504 441 455 424 426 London, City of 20 24 34 30 32 37 17 Merseyside 834 946 873 912 666 620 497 Metropolitan Police 8,343 7,800 7,193 6,725 6,717 6,288 5,976 Norfolk 503 533 588 573 483 447 359 Northamptonshire 362 300 345 395 348 449 409 Northumbria 943 990 1,018 825 735 657 582 North Wales 465 404 411 388 395 408 402 North Yorkshire 248 309 304 335 332 372 348 Nottinghamshire 731 805 731 759 778 807 870 South Wales 377 429 528 707 610 622 607 South Yorkshire 524 540 890 1,043 878 782 563 Staffordshire 757 766 836 865 794 701 782 Suffolk 363 490 400 407 435 473 489 Surrey 429 468 549 492 397 439 618 Sussex 889 939 1,331 1,119 1,128 960 1,034 Thames Valley 1,398 1,500 1,517 1,456 1,680 1,580 1,617 Warwickshire 188 292 268 242 300 265 269 West Mercia 601 672 706 576 609 740 720 West Midlands 1,849 2,137 2,434 2,325 2,329 2,140 1,786 West Yorkshire 1,280 1,832 1,652 1,822 1,662 1,589 1,532 Wiltshire 455 404 345 351 419 404 343 England and Wales 35,721 40,030 41,561 40,538 39,156 37,074 35,153 Note: The data in this table take account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.