New police unit solves 230 crimes in just six months

The team, made up of former detectives Duncan Etchells and Darren Reade, does not investigate new crimes, but encourages criminals to own up to other offences.

Operation Convertor, headed up by two former detectives, aims to encouraging criminals to own up to other offences (Image: Getty Images)

The pair identify people who have been charged with recent crimes and see if they can link them to older, unsolved cases.

They then visit them and try to persuade them to confess to the extra crimes, which can be 'taken into consideration' (TIC) by a judge or magistrate when they are sentenced at court.

The project - Operation Converter - is intended to drive up convictions and address public concerns over falling detection rates for things like burglary and car crime.

Since becoming fully operational in October, the unit - dubbed the TIC Cops - has secured 230 TICs from 35 offenders after carrying out 165 home and jail visits.

Stuart Bocock and Levi Hilden were sentenced for additional burglary and theft TIC offences (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Crimes it has solved include 40 home burglaries, 16 break-ins at commercial premises, five robberies and 40 thefts from vehicles.

It has meant the team has been able to reassure victims someone has finally been caught - sometimes many years after the crime was committed. 

“To ring someone up and say '10 years ago you were burgled, well we have finally been able to put a name to who did it', they are blown away,” said Mr Etchells, who heads up the new unit after a successful spell in charge of a similar initiative in Suffolk.

TIC criminals

Among those to cooperate was Great Yarmouth shop robber Einoras Jonaitis who admitted to six further offences, including another robbery, when he was jailed for four years. 

Armed robbers Levi Hilden and Stuart Bocock had an extra 18 months added to their prison sentences after asking for seven additional burglaries, thefts and other offences to be taken into consideration.

Serial Great Yarmouth burglar Craig Clucas also admitted a number of other offences before he was sentenced to five years.

Craig Clucas was jailed for five years after admitting a series of offences, including burglary, fraud and theft (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

The benefit to the criminals of confessing is that they are able to tell the court they are coming clean and know that if new evidence comes to light they won’t be rearrested. 

“Often only they know what they’ve done but if they want to get a clean slate we are an avenue to assist that,” said Mr Etchells.

“But if they don’t choose that option and we get further evidence then they could face being arrested and future charges.”

Offences that are acceptable as TICs include burglaries, robberies, thefts from vehicles and other 'volume crime' rather than serious assaults or sex offences.

Victims have to agree to the process.

It means they are spared having to attend court or give evidence but they can still submit personal statements detailing the impact the crime has had on them.

Shop armed robber Einoras Jonaitis also admitted other TIC offences when he was sentenced (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

But in many cases simply finally knowing who was responsible can provide reassurance as in most cases offenders of these types of crimes are opportunists with no connection to the victims.

“The alternative is that without the suspects coming on board some of these offences wouldn't be detected,” said Mr Etchells.

“They’d have no closure and they wouldn’t know who was responsible, but instead they are often relieved.”

'No pressure to boost numbers'

The detectives insist they are not judged on figures and under no pressure to get numbers up.

TICs are crimes people are suspected of having done but that have not reached a sufficient threshold of evidence to charge.

While some criminals have sharp memories, others are sometimes driven around to jog their memories, a process that has also led to hidden stolen property being recovered.

The Operation Convertor team visit the homes of those on bail and jails including HMP Norwich to see those on remand (Image: Denise Bradley)

Mr Reade said: “It is not just a case of asking an offender 'did you do this and that?' They have to give up some information to satisfy us that they know enough about it to have done it.”

Police say the use of TICs saves significant case work and avoids expensive investigations including forensic and mobile phone analysis.

The team is shortly to be boosted by a third member of staff and has more upcoming cases involving criminals admitting dozens of offences. 

Mr Etchells said its success so far was “just the tip of the iceberg”.