Crime victims ‘are being let down by the justice system’

Negative experiences could make many people avoid reporting future incidents, according to research Thousands of victims of crime are being so let down by the justice system they are less likely to report incidents in the future, according to new research. A report released on Sunday, based on official government data and survey findings by charity Victim Support , claims that guidelines on dealing with victims are routinely broken and that public confidence in the criminal justice system is being undermined. Under the victim’s Code of Practice , which sets out rules for dealing with the victims of crime, affected individuals must be updated at least once a month about the progress in their cases until the investigation is closed. Victims must also be informed about key events such as arrests, charges, bail, summons and remand. However, the charity found that victims are kept informed about their case to a satisfactory level in only around half of all reported crimes. It said that in a third of cases victims heard nothing more from the authorities after reporting the crime. Victim Support said that where people were kept well informed by the police, 96% were satisfied with the way their case was handled. Those who received “sufficient” feedback were 43% more likely to report a crime again, while a third were more likely to become a potential witness. Javed Khan, chief executive of Victim Support, said: “Time and again victims tell us that they’ve been kept in the dark by the criminal justice system. “Lack of contact and information about their case can make them feel uncertain and isolated, and worsen the distress caused by the crime itself. This not only erodes a victim’s confidence in the justice system but, as our report suggests, makes it less likely that they will report crime again.” The findings arrive as the post-riot debate over law and order intensifies with Labour warning that, if the government ploughs ahead with certain key policies, outbreaks of future disorder will be harder to police. Attempting to position Labour as the party that is tough on crime, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper attacked government legislation on CCTV and DNA, saying they would impair the police’s ability to tackle widespread riots. Ministers are seeking to remove hundreds of thousands of DNA profiles from the national police database, increase regulation on the use of CCTV to ensure they are used “appropriately” and scrap antisocial behaviour orders (Asbos), which Labour say are effective in tackling gang activity. Cooper said the net effect was dismantling the apparatus that helps keep Britain’s streets safe, and that in one London borough police had told her that a third of looting arrests were based on DNA identifications. She added that the repeated CCTV appeals by police underline the importance of CCTV in regulating the streets. She added: “The gap between David Cameron’s rhetoric and the weak policy reality is striking. For all the tough rhetoric, the government is weakening the fight against crime in crucial areas.” She said the issue was compounded by the planned cuts that could cause 16,000 police officers to lose their jobs across England and Wales as forces make savings. The London School of Economics recently warned that the coalition’s planned cuts to officer numbers threaten to cause a 6% rise in

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