Police are shelving thousands of thefts investigations every day (Image: Getty)
More than 3,346 theft investigations were closed every day before a suspect was identified last year, the Daily Express can reveal.
Police shelved, on average, 801 shoplifting probes, 323 burglary cases and 758 theft offences involving a vehicle every day in the year to September.
A staggering 1,221,526 theft investigations – 70% of reports – were abandoned before a suspect was identified, while another 279,265 collapsed due to a lack of evidence.
This is almost double the 153,799 in the year to September 2015.
The Home Office revealed just 7.8% of crimes resulted in a suspect being charged in the year to September.
Shoplifting surged to 519,381 in the year to September, up from September 492,660 in 2024, separate figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed.
But this is marginally down from an update earlier this year, when 530,439 offences were recorded by officers in the year to March 2025.
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs Max Wilkinson MP said: “Shoplifting has become the new normal, and it is small business owners who are paying the price.
“Years of Conservative failure hollowed out neighbourhood policing, leaving communities exposed and crimes like shoplifting going unpunished. Despite promising change, the Labour government is simply not moving fast enough to fix the damage.
“Independent retailers put everything into keeping our high streets alive, only to see their livelihoods undermined by this everyday crime. The Government must use their upcoming reforms to deliver on our call for a Police Counter Promise, restoring visible community policing to rebuild public confidence and take thieves off our streets.”
New figures published on Thursday revealed the number of rapes and sexual assaults reported to police have soared to new record highs.
Officers recorded 214,816 sex crimes, including 74,265 rapes.
And statisticians said 499 killings were recorded in the year to September, the lowest number since 2003.
Knife crime has dropped by 9% to 50,430, the Office for National Statistics said.
ONS figures show 43% of offences were assaults “with intent to cause serious harm”, and 41% were linked to robberies.
Knife killings fell by 23% to 174, ONS stats show.
Police opened 82,678 robbery investigations in the year to September, up from 82,354 in the previous 12 months.
Separate figures from the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales also suggested bank and credit card fraud increased by 19% to 2.6 million incidents in the year to September.
Overall, it suggested there were 4,153,000 fraud incidents last year, up from 8% in the previous 12 months.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “We are having real success tackling the crimes that terrorise communities. Homicides are at their lowest level for almost 50 years. Knife crime continues to fall.
“But the crimes that tear at the fabric of communities, like shop theft and shop robbery, continue to rise and we must do more.
“That is why we are putting 13,000 more neighbourhood officers on the beat, and have invested £2bn more in forces across the country since we took office.
“But we must also reform policing. This week, we set out reforms that will strengthen neighbourhood policing.
“Local forces will be focused on policing their area and protecting their communities.
“A new National Police Force will tackle nationwide and cross-border crime, and protect us all.”
