Crime falls by 25pc as forces ‘have more time for probes’

CRIME HAS fallen by a quarter during the Covid-19 lockdown, according to new figures.

The provisional data from all 43 territorial forces in England and Wales shows a 25 per cent drop in overall crime, excluding fraud, in the four weeks to May 10, compared to last year.

There has been a 36 per cent reduction in police recorded burglary, a 41 per cent drop in vehicle crime, and a 30 per cent fall in serious assault and personal robbery, figures released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council yesterday showed.

Recorded rape offences have fallen 28 per cent, while shoplifting is down 53 per cent with many retail businesses closed.

But assaults on emergency services workers are up 14 per cent amid incidents where coronavirus has been used as a threat in coughing or spitting attacks.

And police have seen a four per cent rise in domestic abuse incidents after fears were raised enforced isolation could see a spike in violence in the home.

Merseyside chief constable Andy Cooke, NPCC lead for crime operations, said a rise in stop-and-search during the lockdown, along with detectives having more time to investigate, has “lead to some of the highest detection rates I can remember in my 35 years of policing”.

He added: “Forces use any spare capacity they have during lockdown to focus on proactively pursuing criminals, completing complex investigations and reducing violence.

“As measures ease, we will bear down on crime and do all we can to try and prevent it rising to prelockdown highs.”

While overall crime is down, the National Crime Agency said online shopping has soared by 46 per cent, making it “one of the biggest growth areas in crime”.

It warned criminals are playing on people’s fears, offering fake or non-existent items for sale, including game consoles, personal protective equipment, medicines, hand sanitiser and dogs.

Director general Lynn Owens said: “We’ve even seen reports of a dating fraud where people are pretending to be... a nurse in a hospital and say, ‘I need money to help me to get to work’, and abuse people that way.”