But don’t ask a policeman the answer.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), which inspects the 43 police forces in England and Wales, reckons that as many as one in five crimes including alleged rapes are not being recorded by police officers - one of them because of workload pressure.

So far, the inspection has covered 13 forces, including London’s Met. The inspectors listen to calls for help from the public and then check to see if crimes are properly recorded.

Evidently, out of a sample of more than 3,000 incidents across the forces inspected so far, HMIC found that more than 500 - including sex offences, violent crimes, robbery and burglary - had not been recorded.

Home Secretary Theresa May suggested the report exposed unacceptable failings by the police and said it was quite possible the study could lead to an increase in recorded crime.

Maybe someone should suggest that, as Britain’s crime czar, she quite possibly does something about it.

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