Stalking and harassment crimes on rise in region

STALKING, harassment, domestic abuse and hate crime have more than doubled in the West Midlands, figures show.

West Midlands Police saw a 67 per cent rise in reports of stalking and harassment after it made huge efforts to encourage victims to come forward to file reports.

Hate crime has also increased by 25 per cent, with 2,500 more offences. There continues to be a rise in the number of domestic abuse cases reported to the force.

Violence against the person has increased by 41 per cent – with domestic abuse making up 43 per cent of all violent offending.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics are based on data from January 2021 up to the end of December 2021, which reflects the time when the country opened up following the third national lockdown.

No additional lockdown measures were put in place after that time, which meant more people were out in public places and led to a rise in offending. The increase took place during the summer and autumn months, which created “an exceptional level of demand later on in the year,” police added.

The 2021 increase in certain crimes comes against the backdrop of figures in 2020 which were artificially low due to the pandemic, when the force saw fewer reports of burglary, robbery and vehicle crime.

Officers said their work to tackle this type of violent abuse is “paramount” and the force has invested in a number of key initiatives to help victims and make sure officers are better equipped to deal with these reports.

Much work has been carried out on stalking protection orders and Clare’s Law gives people the chance to apply for information on a partner’s or ex-partner’s previous abusive offending.

Deputy Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said: “We recognise that our biggest crime type between January to December 2021 was domestic abuse and much has been done to tackle this already; this work continues. Our wider strategies for bringing down crime are perpetrator and prevention focused, with extra attention to hate-motivated offending and exploitation.”