A failure to reduce police bureaucracy has resulted in an increase in the cost of tackling crime, figures suggest.
For some types of crime, the average cost of dealing with an incident has increased by more than 50 per cent in four years.
The figures, obtained by the Tories, show sharp rises in staffing costs per incident - as opposed to equipment or business costs - suggesting that paperwork and bureaucracy is a growing burden.
Some violent offences now cost the taxpayer more than pounds 18,000, about half of which is spent on staffing.