A surge in violent crime in London has exacerbated a decade of service cuts under the government’s austerity drive, leaving the city’s Metropolitan Police severely stretched and unable to pursue most suspects involved in minor property crimes.

Only 4 percent of all domestic burglaries in London were solved between April 2017 and April 2018 , police figures show, while the number of suspects caught for all crimes has halved over five years to 9 percent.

I am a London-based reporter for The Times who has covered crime in Britain for the past two years. Two months ago my apartment was burgled, and I have had my own experience with this.