A RISING TIDE OF CRIME
CRIME RATES ARE SOARING - AND WE’RE
MORE and more people are realising that crime is getting worse, new figures suggest.
The latest Crime Survey for England and Wales has revealed that, between October 2017 and September 2018, 76 per cent of people said crime has gone up nationally in the past few years.
That’s up from 67 per cent of people between October 2016 and September 2017, and 62 per cent of people the year before that.
And while generally more people think the situation is getting worse nationally than it is in their area, an increasing number of people think that local crime is also on the rise.
More than 21,000 people were surveyed, and nearly half said that they thought local crime has gone up in the past few years - 46 per cent of the total.
That compares to 40 per cent in the 12 months to September 2017, and just 34 per cent in the 12 months to September 2016.
And the truth of the matter is, they’re right.
Figures from the Home Office show that there were 5.1 million crimes recorded across England and Wales in the year to September 2018.
That is up by 400,000 crimes from the 4.7 million recorded the previous year.
In particular, violent crimes - including homicides, assaults, stalking and harassment - have soared from 1.3 million to 1.6 million over the period.
Chief Constable Bill Skelly, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for crime recording and statistics, said: “There are real rises in serious crimes like robbery and violence with weapons, with a devastating impact on victims and families.
“The statistics show an increase in violent crime and those being in possession of an offensive weapon.
“These are things police forces are committed to tackling using many tactics like the Operation Sceptre national day of action on knife crime and our work with local NHS Trusts and A&E units which are showing success.
“We will continue to work with the Home Office and other partners to deal with growing violent crime because this is not something that can be solved by policing alone.”
The figures come at a time when
ongoing budget cuts have seen police officer numbers plummet.
Since 2010, police forces have lost one in every six of their officers - and the number has reached its lowest level on recent record.
There are now the equivalent of 120,642 full-time officers available for duty across England and Wales - down from 144,796 in 2010.
In particular, the number of local policing officers - who deal with the bulk of neighbourhood policing, including local emergencies, youth offending and anti-social behaviour - has been falling at a much faster rate than other types of officer.