‘Warning lights flashing’ as UK crime hits 33,000 offences a day
BRITAIN’S most senior police officer has said the “warning lights are flashing” over crime after new figures revealed there were nearly 12 million offences – around 33,000 every day – in a year.
Scotland Yard chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe called on the Government to meet a pledge to protect police funding in real terms.
His intervention came after official data laid bare the scale of fraud and cyber crime and revealed a jump in violent offences recorded by forces in England and Wales.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said: “After the last few years when we have reduced crime significantly in London, as you’ll have seen from the crime figures today, the warning lights are flashing. The number of traditional crimes is rising, including in London, and the scale of online crime and fraud is just becoming apparent.”
Earlier this week, London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned that it will become “near impossible” to maintain the number of officers on the capital’s streets if the force is hit with further cuts.
“He’s worried. I’m worried,” said Sir Bernard, who will retire from the post next month.
His remarks came after official crime figures showed fraud is now the most commonly perpetrated crime – with nearly one in 10 adults falling victim to scams.
The chances of being conned are now double the risk of having a car stolen, the data suggest, exposing a shift away from traditional methods used by criminals.
There were an estimated 3.6 million fraud and two million computer misuse offences in the year to September.
The inclusion of these crimes for the first time gives a headline estimate of 11.8 million incidents covered by the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said – although it stressed this total could not yet be compared with previous years.
Stripping out the two categories gives a tally of 6.2 million – which was not a “statistically significant” change compared with the previous year.
Frauds referred to police increased by 3% year on year, while industry numbers showed cases on UK-issued cards jumped by nearly two-fifths to 1.9 million.
John Flatley, of the ONS, said the latest figures demonstrate how crime has changed.
He said: “In the past, burglary and theft of vehicles were the high-volume crimes driving trends but their numbers have fallen substantially since then. When the CSEW started, fraud was not considered a significant threat and the internet had yet to be invented.”
Excluding fraud and computer misuse, the likelihood of being a victim of crime has fallen considerably over time, the ONS report said.
Around 15 in 100 adults were victims in the latest survey year, compared with around 23 in 100 a decade ago and around 40 in 100 in 1995, when the level reached a peak. But taking fraud and computer offences into account gives a victimisation rate of around 22 in 100.
The ONS report also revealed that police recorded an annual rise of 22% in violent offences.
This was said to be largely driven by changes in recording processes and the inclusion of additional harassment offences – but there did appear to be “genuine” smaller increases in some categories including homicide and knife crime.
Lucy Hastings, director of charity Victim Support, said criminals are finding “new, sophisticated” ways to target people and warned cyber crime and fraud can have a “devastating impact” on victims’ lives.
She added: “It”s extremely concerning that over 10 million people were affected by crime last year.”
Policing Minister Brandon Lewis said: “Police reform is working and crimes traditionally measured by the survey have fallen by a third since 2010 to a record low, with over 370,000 fewer violent crimes a year.
“Crime is changing and the way it is measured needs to change too so that we can continue to protect families and communities from the biggest threats.”
He said the Government is taking “world-leading action” to stamp out fraud and cyber crime.