Plea to Home Office over crime rate rise
GOVERNMENT SHOWN NEW FIGURES AS OFFENCES ON INCREASE
Reporter POLICE bosses will demand that the government takes action over rising crime rates in the North East, after sending proof to the Home Office.
Alarming new figures show that total crime in the Northumbria Police area has increased by 109% since 2014, with violent crime up by 222%.
While that huge increase is largely being put down to major changes in the way the force records crime, police have now said that they believe there has also been an actual increase in some offences.
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Ged Noble told a Police and Crime Panel meeting that he estimates there has been a two or three percent rise in actual crime – particularly offences such as burglary and theft.
Dame Vera Baird QC, Northumbria police and crime commissioner, has now sent the evidence to the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, in the hope of ending severe funding cuts.
The force has endured £136.6m of cuts since 2010 – the largest percentage reduction of any of the 43 forces in England and Wales.
As a result, there are 898 fewer officers on the streets and a further 926 other staff have been lost.
Dame Vera told the panel: “When I first had this presentation, what impressed me was that the police were accepting that crime was increasing. Usually they are very focused on the fact that the recording methods have changed.
“There is also an acknowledgement that we have improved confidence so that more people who are sexually abused will come forward.
“But people have always reported murders and burglaries, that won’t have changed.
“For the first time, I got a report saying ‘this, this, and this crime is going up.’
“We have sent that to the Home Secretary because they always say that crime isn’t going up, it is actually going down.
“Let’s see what response we get to the acknowledgement that crime is actually going up here in some parts.”
The report shows that the number of recorded harassment offences has risen from 1,048 in 2014 to 12,038 in 2017.
There has also been an increase of 399% in recorded assault without injury offences. Temp Asst Chief Constable Noble said: “Every leader within the force has had this as an absolute priority. It impacts on every aspect of how the force operates, but particularly on public confidence. “If the public do not have faith in our recording practices then that has a significant impact on us.” He added: “It isn’t as simple as saying the increase is down to better recording practices. “There has been a lot of work done in areas like sexual crime and domestic abuse that mean more victims are coming forward. “Some of those things are also affected by what is happening nationally. “Policing complex.” Temp Asst Chief Constable Ged Noble is also getting more