Huge rise in crime rates
75% RISE IN REPORTS OF VIOLENCE IS BIGGEST IN COUNTRY
Crime Reporter CRIME rates in the Durham and Northumbria police areas are now higher than London.
Latest figures have revealed a huge surge in recorded crime across England and Wales, with Durham Constabulary seeing a 40% increase in a year, the biggest rise in the country.
Northumbria Police, which covers Northumberland and Tyne and Wear was also one of the forces to see the biggest rise, with offences up by more than 25% from 2016 to 2017.
And the force saw a 75% rise in reports of violence, which was the biggest in the country.
Durham Constabulary recorded 60,541 offences in 2017 and 43,093 in 2016, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) stats that were released on Thursday.
In the Northumbria area, offences were up from 118,250 in 2016 to 149,023 in 2017.
Both areas now have crime rates that are higher than London.
However, the figures also reveal that people in Northumbria and Durham are among the most likely to report experiencing crime, with 103 and 96 crimes respectively reported in 2017 for every 1,000 people, compared to 82 per 1,000 people across England and Wales as a whole.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary, however, blamed the increases in improvements to the way crime is recorded and in victim confidence.
He said: “Improvements in crime reporting and a drive from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies towards the accuracy of police forces crime recording data has made a significant increase.
“Among the types of crime seeing a big rise in Durham was violence against the person, with a 70% rise in 2017, one of the biggest in England and Wales. In total, police recorded 20,817 violent crimes in 2017. There was also a 75% rise in cases of stalking and harassment in the county.
The spokesman added: “While we continue to ensure we are recording all crimes in line with the Home Office counting rules, the force are now recording cases of harassment which would have been previously recorded as anti-social behaviour disputes, sometimes between neighbours, and low-level violent and criminal damage offences which would also have previously been recorded as anti-social behaviour. Whilst these changes have led to an increase in recorded cases, we have been closely monitoring satisfaction levels to ensure we are meeting the needs of the victims.
“We also believe that people are increasingly confident to report crimes and incidents to the police. We have too seen rises in recorded cases of hate crime, domestic abuse and sexual violence.”
Northumbria has seen an even bigger rise in reports of violence against the person, with a 75% rise in 2017, the biggest in England and Wales.
Billy Close, from Battle Hill, Wallsend, survived horrific brain contribution to the injuries inflicted by one-punch attacker, Jordan Cooper, while on a night out in Newcastle city centre two years ago.
His mum, Michaela, said she was not surprised to hear about the rise in violence in the area.
And the 45-year-old is calling on schools to include education about violence and its impacts into the curriculum to help keep the next generation safe.
She said: “I don’t know if it’s to do with what happened to Billy that people tell me more, but the amount of people I hear of being assaulted is just awful,” she said.
“It does seem to be getting worse. It doesn’t surprise me at all that it’s rising.
“I don’t think I’m alone as a parent whose heart is in their mouth whenever their child goes out in the city centre.
“I think the message needs to get out early. I think schools need to educate pupils about violence. It needs to be nipped in the bud with kids at school before they go out drinking.”
Northumbria Police’s temporary Assistant Chief Constable Ged Noble said: “It is important to understand the context of these figures as it can be concerning when people can interpret that crime is rising by as much as 26%.
“As a force we have acknowledged that we have seen an actual increase in some crime types after years of reductions and this is something that we are looking at with forces across the UK. It is important to recognise that policing is becoming more complex and there are a number of factors as to why recorded crime may be going up.
“Most of the increases can be attributed to better recording methods and the fact that officers are now recording some incidents as crimes that would not have been in the past.
“It is also extremely encouraging to see victims of hate crime, domestic violence and sexual abuse are more confident than ever before about reporting crimes to police.
“We have carried out a lot of work to engage with victims of these types of crimes and will continue to do so in the future. It is very important that the public understand our crime recording methods and have faith in them. We will continue to work hard to deliver a service they can be proud of.”
In 2017, police forces across England and Wales recorded 4.8 million crimes, a 15% increase rise from 4.2 million recorded in 2016. Stalking, possession of weapons, robbery and sexual offences were the crimes that showed some of the biggest rises.
As well as this, police forces recorded a huge rise in the number of offences involving a knife or sharp instrument, which jumped by 22% in 2017, with 39,598 compared to 32,468 the previous year. Firearm offences were also up by 11% from 5,945 in 2016 to 6,604.
Stalking and harassment and robbery saw the biggest increases among the types of offences recorded by police forces, both up by a third.
Alexa Bradley, crime statistics and analysis, office for national statistics, said: “Today’s figures show that, for most types of offence, the picture of crime has been fairly stable, with levels much lower than the peak seen in the mid-1990s. Eight in 10 adults had not experienced any of the crimes asked about in our survey in the latest year.
“However, we have seen an increase in the relatively rare, but ‘high-harm’ violent offences such as homicide, knife crime and gun’ crime, a trend that has been emerging over the previous two years. We have also seen evidence that increases in some types of theft have continued, in particular vehiclerelated theft and burglary.”