The Coalition Government and police have hailed a fall in recorded crime. Home Secretary Theresa May said: “These statistics show that our police reforms are continuing to deliver results across the country with falls in crime in every police force in England and Wales.
“Recorded crime is down by more than ten per cent under this government, and the independent survey shows that the public’s experience of crime is at its lowest level since records began. This is a significant achievement. Police forces have shown an impressive ability to rise to the challenge of making savings while still cutting crime. This government has played its part by slashing red tape and scrapping targets to enable the police to focus on crime fighting.
“We have encouraged chief constables to make savings in back offices to give renewed focus on the frontline and we are seeing the benefits of those efficiencies. We have also set up a College of Policing to ensure the police are better equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to fight crime. England and Wales are safer than they have been for decades, but we will continue to improve our national crime fighting capability when the National Crime Agency is fully operational later this year.”
The Government’s Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) estimates that there were 8.6 million crimes in England and Wales, based on interviews with a representative sample of households and resident adults in the year ending March 2013. This represents a 9pc decrease compared with the previous year’s survey. This latest estimate is the lowest since the survey began in 1981 and is now less than half its peak, in 1995.
The police recorded 3.7 million offences in the year ending March 2013, a decrease of 7pc compared with the previous year. There were increases, for theft from the person (up 9pc) and sexual offences (1pc increase). The latter increase is thought to be according to the authorities partly a ‘Yewtree effect’, whereby greater numbers of victims of sexual offences have come forward to report historical offences to the police.
There were an additional one million offences dealt with by the courts in the year ending December 2012 (the latest period for which data are available), which are not included in the police recorded crime figures. These cover less serious crimes, such as speeding offences, which are dealt with no higher than magistrates courts.
For more visit the Office for National Statistics website: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/period-ending-march-2013/stb-crime–period-ending-march-2013.html
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead for crime and statistics, Deputy Chief Constable Jeff Farrar said: “The likelihood of someone becoming a victim of crime is at its lowest level in over 30 years. This is good news for the communities we serve to protect and reflects the hard work of police forces who continue to do all they can to protect communities from harm. A key success reflected in the figures is the significant reduction in the number of victims of anti-social behaviour with 458,166 fewer offences compared with last year.
“However, although police recorded crime is down by 7 per cent we are seeing some emerging trends. Data shows that fraud is up 27pc. Although this increase is partly down to the introduction of a more efficient centralised recording system, it also shows us that criminals are adopting new tactics and crime is moving away from more traditional forms to the online world. Additionally the threat from international terrorism continues to loom large and will continue to put communities at risk and place immense pressure on policing – the impact this has on police resources cannot be underestimated.
“The need for policing to deliver safe and confident neighbourhoods and engage effectively with the public will remain so we are disappointed to also see in today’s figures that theft against the person is up 9 per cent. The major driver is the rising number of mobile phone thefts. We would urge the public to take particular care of mobile phones and personal items when in public places where thieves may seek to take advantage.
“Chief officers around the country have been proactive about the reduction in their resources and have worked very hard to ensure that cuts have had as little impact as possible on frontline policing. We recognise the challenges ahead and remain resolutely committed to protecting the public which we serve but I suspect the full effect of the cuts has not yet been truly felt.”
