In a bizarre cost-cutting measure, Britain's Leicestershire police has been found to have employed a pilot programme in which investigators were told not to attend attempted burglaries in odd-numbered houses.
The money-saving scheme was tested by Leicestershire police and is being considered in at least five British counties after the force reported no impact on crime rates or public satisfaction.
Leicestershire police conducted a three-month test in which crime scene investigators were told only to attend attempted burglaries when the victim lived in an even-numbered house, The Times reported.
If the victim reported blood at the scene, or if a suspect had been arrested, investigators had to attend whatever the house number, the report said.
Leicestershire police has claimed that the policy had "no noticeable impact on victim satisfaction, and nor did it affect the overall ratio of scenes visited and suspects identified."
The force confirmed that the East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU), which provides services to Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, decided to test the scheme in Leicestershire alone.
The Leicestershire force said in a statement that new methods were needed "as a result of significant year-on-year cuts to policing budgets".
During the test scheme, police officers only visited attempted burglaries at properties with even numbers. However all scenes involving a vulnerable victim, or believed to be part of a series of crimes, were visited by forensic science officers.
The news comes after Sara Thornton, the head of the National Police Chiefs Council, said last month that the public should no longer expect the police to turn up routinely at burglaries because of cuts.