Tens of thousands of serious criminals are being let off with just a slap on the wrist because of lazy police officers , a report claims today . Almost one in three crimes is ‘ inappropriately ’ punished with a police caution or penalty notice , including some that carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment , such as rape , MPs say . Some 86,000 offences that could have gone before a Crown Court were dealt with out of court in the year to June 2014 , they add . Revelation : Tens of thousands of serious criminals are being let off with just a slap on the wrist because of lazy police officers , a report claims today . The Home Affairs Select Committee points to an ‘ alarming ’ rise of the caution culture – which grew and peaked under the Labour government – and says this has damaged public confidence in the justice system . The committee ’ s report concludes that too often , police used cautions as a ‘ time-saving tool ’ rather than the correct way of tackling an offence . In total , police issued 318,500 of the so-called out-of-court disposals , mostly for minor offences , in 2013-14 , down from 660,965 in 2008 . Despite ministers insisting cautions are ‘ inappropriate ’ for serious offences , 70 sexual and violent offenders a week received one in the past four years . Keith Vaz , Labour chairman of the committee , said : ‘ The inappropriate use of out-of-court disposals to deal with serious offences is unacceptable . ‘ It is alarming that they are not being used in the correct way in up to 30 per cent of cases . ‘ We can not allow the misuse of out-of-court disposals in serious cases to continue . The public deserve to feel reassured that their local police forces are not tackling serious crimes with a slap on the wrist. ’ Keith Vaz , Labour chairman of the committee , said the 'inappropriate use of out-of-court disposals to deal with serious offences unacceptable . The committee also says the use of cautions has resulted in a ‘ postcode lottery ’ . In Gwent , 49 per cent of offences were brought to justice , compared with 26 per cent in West Yorkshire . At the peak , one in ten of all solved cases was dealt with by out-of-court disposals . By last year , it had fallen to fewer than one in 20 . The report found that cautions could save the police time and money by cutting bureaucracy , allowing front-line officers to spend more time pounding the beat . Arresting an offender takes almost three hours of police time , and charging someone takes five hours . But too many cautions were being handed out ‘ inappropriately ’ , says the committee . The report welcomes reforms being introduced by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling that will end the caution culture which led to criminals being let off with a warning . Six types of out-of-court disposals will be replaced with just two which are designed to compel offenders to make some form of reparation . Minor criminals will be told they must apologise to victims or repair damage they have caused to prevent a court appearance . More serious offenders will be give a ‘ suspended prosecution ’ , which means they must meet a set of conditions such as paying a fine and going on a rehabilitation course to avoid further punishment . Last year the Mail revealed that 90 rapists have received only a caution since the Coalition came to power . In total , police issued almost 15,000 for offences that would typically result in jail , including 2,279 for sexual assault , 783 for robbery and 11,347 for burglary .
Almost one in three crimes ‘ inappropriately ’ punished with police caution . 86,000 potential Home Affairs Select Committee offences were dealt with out of court last year . Crown Court points to ‘ alarming ’ rise of caution culture .