In one case officers allegedly bought teenager alcohol to encourage him to own up to burglaries . By . Emily Allen . Last updated at 6:23 PM on 1st November 2011 . Police are boosting their detection rates by getting offenders to confess to other crimes, figures suggest. Convicted criminals asked for a total of almost 69,000 crimes to be 'taken into consideration' in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year, statistics disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act showed. The offences can then be wiped off the slate, and they cannot be prosecuted for them at a later date. But the practice also allows police to . record the crimes as solved, improving the clear-up rates on which their . performance is measured. TIC: Defendants gain credit in court for putting their hands up to other crimes and offences can be wiped off the slate so they cannot be prosecuted for them . The figures obtained by BBC Radio 4's Law in Action exclude Greater Manchester Police and British Transport Police, as no details were provided. The TIC system does not operate in Scotland. A total of 68,976 crimes were recorded as 'taken into consideration' last year - almost 6 per cent of all crimes cleared up by police. TICs accounted for 35 per cent of all detected burglaries and 25 per cent of detected car crimes. One suspect arrested in London by the Metropolitan Police asked for 404 crimes - mostly burglaries - to be taken into consideration. Highest TIC rate was in South Yorkshire, where 19 per cent of detected crimes were solved this way, while the lowest levels were in Gwent and the Police Service of Northern Ireland where the rate was 0.5 per cent. Police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has carried out various inquiries in the past six years into . allegations police encouraged suspects to admit crimes by offering them . inducements. It said the . abuses found tended to be characterised by officers offering 'low-level' inducements, such as the use of a phone call to family and partners, . 'bumping' into family and friends while being driven around, home visits . and inducements in the form of meals or drinks. A total of 68,976 crimes were recorded as 'taken into consideration' last year - almost six per cent of all crimes cleared up by police . In one case currently ongoing, two South Wales Police officers are alleged to have bought a Cardiff teenager alcohol to encourage him to own up to burglaries. Sean Wall's lawyer claimed . detectives gave his 'vulnerable' client two litres of cider and took . him on a 'drive around' questioning him about burglaries at different . houses. Nadeem Majid told the BBC last year: 'This was a . vulnerable young man who was taken from what one would say is safe . hands in custody and made to admit offences that he could have . never had committed.' Mr Majid claims his client could not have committed some of the crimes he admitted to as he was in custody at the time. The IPCC told MailOnline it was investigating the allegations and a gross misconduct hearing will be held early next year. It said the IPCC also looked at whether what happened to Mr Wall . was indicative of a wider systemic abuse by South Wales Police officers . and found no evidence of this. The IPCC said a separate investigation into the Metropolitan Police's use of TIC's resulted in the dismissal of one detective constable and a police constable receiving a final written warning. The officers had taken a prisoner from HMP Wormwood Scrubs for interview in 2009 about a large number of thefts from cars in the Hounslow area between 2004 and 2005. The officers had been informed by the prison liason officer that she had information suggesting the prisoner was planning to obtain drugs and mobile phones while out of prison. On his return, prison staff searched him and found two mobile phones, three SIM cards and an adapted USB cable on his body. The three officers admitted that they allowed the prisoner an unauthorised escorted visit to his family before being returned to jail.
Almost 6% of crimes were 'taken into consideration' last year .
One suspect asked for 404 crimes to be TIC .
In one case officers allegedly bought teenager alcohol to encourage him to own up to burglaries .
In one case officers allegedly bought teenager alcohol to encourage him to own up to burglaries . By . Emily Allen . Last updated at 6:23 PM on 1st November 2011 . Police are boosting their detection rates by getting offenders to confess to other crimes, figures suggest. Convicted criminals asked for a total of almost 69,000 crimes to be 'taken into consideration' in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year, statistics disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act showed. The offences can then be wiped off the slate, and they cannot be prosecuted for them at a later date. But the practice also allows police to . record the crimes as solved, improving the clear-up rates on which their . performance is measured. TIC: Defendants gain credit in court for putting their hands up to other crimes and offences can be wiped off the slate so they cannot be prosecuted for them . The figures obtained by BBC Radio 4's Law in Action exclude Greater Manchester Police and British Transport Police, as no details were provided. The TIC system does not operate in Scotland. A total of 68,976 crimes were recorded as 'taken into consideration' last year - almost 6 per cent of all crimes cleared up by police. TICs accounted for 35 per cent of all detected burglaries and 25 per cent of detected car crimes. One suspect arrested in London by the Metropolitan Police asked for 404 crimes - mostly burglaries - to be taken into consideration. Highest TIC rate was in South Yorkshire, where 19 per cent of detected crimes were solved this way, while the lowest levels were in Gwent and the Police Service of Northern Ireland where the rate was 0.5 per cent. Police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has carried out various inquiries in the past six years into . allegations police encouraged suspects to admit crimes by offering them . inducements. It said the . abuses found tended to be characterised by officers offering 'low-level' inducements, such as the use of a phone call to family and partners, . 'bumping' into family and friends while being driven around, home visits . and inducements in the form of meals or drinks. A total of 68,976 crimes were recorded as 'taken into consideration' last year - almost six per cent of all crimes cleared up by police . In one case currently ongoing, two South Wales Police officers are alleged to have bought a Cardiff teenager alcohol to encourage him to own up to burglaries. Sean Wall's lawyer claimed . detectives gave his 'vulnerable' client two litres of cider and took . him on a 'drive around' questioning him about burglaries at different . houses. Nadeem Majid told the BBC last year: 'This was a . vulnerable young man who was taken from what one would say is safe . hands in custody and made to admit offences that he could have . never had committed.' Mr Majid claims his client could not have committed some of the crimes he admitted to as he was in custody at the time. The IPCC told MailOnline it was investigating the allegations and a gross misconduct hearing will be held early next year. It said the IPCC also looked at whether what happened to Mr Wall . was indicative of a wider systemic abuse by South Wales Police officers . and found no evidence of this. The IPCC said a separate investigation into the Metropolitan Police's use of TIC's resulted in the dismissal of one detective constable and a police constable receiving a final written warning. The officers had taken a prisoner from HMP Wormwood Scrubs for interview in 2009 about a large number of thefts from cars in the Hounslow area between 2004 and 2005. The officers had been informed by the prison liason officer that she had information suggesting the prisoner was planning to obtain drugs and mobile phones while out of prison. On his return, prison staff searched him and found two mobile phones, three SIM cards and an adapted USB cable on his body. The three officers admitted that they allowed the prisoner an unauthorised escorted visit to his family before being returned to jail.
In one case officers allegedly bought teenager alcohol to encourage him to own up to burglaries crimes to be 'taken into consideration' in as 'taken into consideration' last year - almost Metropolitan Police asked for 404 crimes - mostly teenager alcohol to encourage him to own up to