On Boxing Day I called the police after hearing smashed glass late at night. This resulted in the police catching a burglar that had broken into a house behind mine while the family were away on holiday. I don’t know the particulars of what happened of course, but my partner and I watched what happened and could hear everything from our bedroom window.
The morning after, the police called asking if I could give a statement. I agreed to give one over email, as I had flu at the time, so the police officer said they would call me the next day to go over what was required.
It’s been 2 weeks now and I never heard anything else from the police and recieved no email. Just curious if anyone knows what this might mean? Hoping it doesn’t mean the burglar was let off :/
16 comments
Why don’t you call them and ask? Say you’re waiting to give a statement on a recent burglary and you haven’t heard back
Jumping in on this. I knce called the police to report a man acting suspiciously towards a woman on the way home from work once. About a month later the police called me and asked if I would give a statement and potentially goto court. I agreed and never heard back. I completely forgot about it until now.
Person might be pleading guilty.
My office was burgled. The burglers pleaded guilty and I was not needed.
Could it be that they admitted the charge, so a statement is redundant? Not sure.
I dunno if it works this way, but if they caught the burglar who has subsequently admitted / pled guilty to breaking & entering, would the police still need evidence or witness statements?
He was caught red handed. Chances are he just confessed.
They’re not going to be taking it further
If they caught him, “I heard some glass break” doesn’t really carry a great deal of evidential value.
That and the fact that detectives are swamped and statements given over email are notoriously bad for never being good enough – used to be a police officer myself – I’d wager the detective has just worked around needing your statement and forgotten all about you.
If a burglar is caught red handed in the act of burglary, a witness statement is a bit redundant. The police report from the arresting officer will hold more weight in court than a statement from the house at the bottom of the garden.
If the guy decides to withdraw his guilty plea and changes it to not-guilty then the police would chase you up for a statement as they would need further evidence for trial. By the sound of it, he was caught in the act and admitted to all charges.
Ask the police.
Full confession along with some laddering of other charges so they don’t need your input to get a conviction?
Source: I’ve watched some of Line of Duty
Police are usually a bit slow and crap at organising things like this.
They might have enough evidence
They have two teams working on the case day and night. The investigation has been that intense that they simply haven’t had time yet.
I mean, get real… police barely get involved in domestic burglary save for dishing out a crime number.
I’m a police officer, been a detective for 12 years and dealt with countless burglaries.
The most likely reason is the person is just busy with either other work, leave, training or abstractions. The police are fucked and the whole criminal justice system is so it takes ages to do anything. Two weeks isn’t long.
As an example:
Monday burglary and officer calls you
Tuesday to Friday rest days
Saturday to Tuesday is duty team and dealing with overnight crimes and live incidents
Wednesday training
Thursday onwards leave…
DCs will often carry 20 live investigations. Really serious ones like 2-3 rapes, 2-3 stabbings, a shooting (not murder), kidnap and maybe drug supplying too
Also remember a statement is one form of evidence. There will be CCTV potentially, vehicle enquiries, victim care, financial work, identification issues perhaps, property enquiries (especially following a house search), CPS liaison, courts if he was remanded
It’s depressingly slow and hard to do anything
It just means the police are swamped.
Various options.
1. Police are busy and haven’t got around to it yet.
2. Burglar confessed. No need for statements.
3. Burglar died. No need for statements.
4. Burglar was out on licence, so returned to prison. No need for statements.
5. Home Secretary has had burglar deported without due process. Statements needed, but against Braverman, not burglar.