Recorded crime on the rise in Halton
●
Overall there was a rise of nearly 25% in recorded crime across the county.
Violence against the person was up 34.1% and the number of reported sexual offences increased by 20.6%.
Cheshire police said this was partly down to victims being more confident in speaking out.
Chief Constable Simon Byrne said the main reason for the rise in recorded crimes in general was due to a rise in violent crimes and in ‘public order’ offences which previously had not been classed as crimes and just as anti-social behaviour.
In its summary, the ONS said the Crime Survey For England And Wales (CSEW) covered 5.9 million incidents not including fraud and computer misuse which have been measured for the first time, a seven per cent reduction compared with the previous year’s survey.
Including fraud and computer misuse offences, there were an estimated 11m crimes covered by the CSEW.
The ONS said police recorded nearly 5m offences in the year ending March 2017 – an annual rise of 10%, reflecting factors such as improvements to recording processes, expanded offence coverage and genuine increases in some crime types.
It said the differing trend between the CSEW and police data can be explained by methodological differences between them such as crime and population coverage and variations in police recording practices over time.
John Flatley, ONS crime statistics and analysis, said: “The latest figures show the largest annual rise in crimes recorded by the police in a decade.
“While ongoing improvements to recording practices are driving this volume rise, we believe actual increases in crime are also a factor in a number of categories.
“Some of the increases recorded by the police are in the low volume, but high harm, offences such as homicide and knife crime that the crime survey is not designed to measure.
“If the increases in burglary and vehicle theft recorded by the police continue we would expect these to show up in the survey in due course.
“We will continue to monitor these trends and investigate the factors driving any changes.”
Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: “Serious and acquisitive crimes, which include burglary and theft, have again seen a reduction.
“This means fewer victims and provides further reassurance that we are doing all we can to tackle the issue.
“It also reinforces the efforts of officers across the county and the valuable crime prevention work that they are carrying out on a daily basis to try and reduce the impact of this type of crime on the local community.”
CC Byrne said: “While it is disappointing to see any increase in crime in Cheshire, it is important to understand the reason behind this.
“The increase in recorded crime is largely as a result of a rise in the number of violent crimes and, in particular, public order offences, which is mirrored by the majority of forces in England and Wales.
“However, this rise does need to be put into context.
“Changes were introduced nationally to ensure consistency in how crimes are recorded.
“To meet the standards we have introduced dedicated staff to ensure crimes are recorded and categorised accurately.
“For example incidents of disorder in a public area may have been categorised previously as anti-social behaviour rather than as a crime, and this new way of recording is now being reflected in our data – hence the increase.”
Victims of crime are encouraged to report it on 101 or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Always call 999 in an emergency.