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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| 'Not practical' for Met Police to investigate all crime | 'Not practical' for Met Police to investigate all crime |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Some crimes such as shoplifting and criminal damage may not be investigated in London because it is "not practical" to do so, Scotland Yard has said. | Some crimes such as shoplifting and criminal damage may not be investigated in London because it is "not practical" to do so, Scotland Yard has said. |
| The force said it was facing "many challenges" while having to save £400m by 2020, so work had to be prioritised. | The force said it was facing "many challenges" while having to save £400m by 2020, so work had to be prioritised. |
| New guidelines have been introduced to allow officers to assess what is "proportionate" to investigate. | New guidelines have been introduced to allow officers to assess what is "proportionate" to investigate. |
| Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons said officers must be "focused on serious crime". | Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mark Simmons said officers must be "focused on serious crime". |
| But the Met Police Federation said it was important officers investigated offences at every level "like we always used to". | |
| 'Not practical' | |
| Mr Simmons said the new Crime Assessment Policy was "empowering our officers" to judge whether it was proportionate to investigate some offences such as shoplifting, car crime and criminal damage. | Mr Simmons said the new Crime Assessment Policy was "empowering our officers" to judge whether it was proportionate to investigate some offences such as shoplifting, car crime and criminal damage. |
| "With the pressure on our resources it is not practical for our officers to spend a considerable amount of time looking into something where for example, the value of damage or the item stolen is under £50, or the victim is not willing to support a prosecution," he said | "With the pressure on our resources it is not practical for our officers to spend a considerable amount of time looking into something where for example, the value of damage or the item stolen is under £50, or the victim is not willing to support a prosecution," he said |
| "We are not talking about things like homicide, kidnap, sexual offences, hate crime or domestic violence, but the lower level, higher volume offences." | "We are not talking about things like homicide, kidnap, sexual offences, hate crime or domestic violence, but the lower level, higher volume offences." |
| In the last four years, the UK's biggest police force has had to make £600m of savings and is due to lose an extra £400m by 2020. | |
| Meanwhile, the number of recorded offences has increased with violent crime rising by 63% since May 2013 and gun crime increasing by 54% in the past two years. | |
| "We need our officers to be focused on serious crime and cases where there is a realistic chance that we will be able to solve it," Mr Simmons said. | "We need our officers to be focused on serious crime and cases where there is a realistic chance that we will be able to solve it," Mr Simmons said. |
| Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met Police Federation, said cuts and the threat of terrorism meant other areas of policing were suffering. | |
| "You can learn a lot from small crimes and if you stop [investigating} that you break off a large part of communication with the public," he said. |