Violent crime on the rise in West Norfolk, figures show
Violent crime has risen in West Norfolk over the last year, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Norfolk Police recorded 3,412 incidents of violent crime in West Norfolk in the 12 months to June, according to the ONS – an increase of 19 per cent compared to the previous year.
A spokesman for the force said, despite the increase in reported crimes, the county remains “one of the safest places to live in the country”.
At 22.5 crimes per 1,000 people, West Norfolk’s rate is lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 28.7.
One of the main factors behind the increase was the increase in stalking and harassment, which rose by 37 per cent, from 511 incidents to 701.
Offences of violence with injury increased by 5 per cent and violence without injury by 22 per cent, reaching 1,065 and 1,644 respectively.
There was also one homicide, which include murders and manslaughters, up by one on the previous 12 months.
Overall, police recorded 7 per cent more crime across England and Wales – there were more than six million offences in the 12 months to June.
The biggest hike was in stalking and harassment, which jumped by 37 per cent to 459,000.
However, the ONS said improvements to reporting and recording practices by police could be behind the increase.
Responding to the national figures, John Apter, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “These figures once again come as no surprise as officers continue to struggle to deal with delivering the basics in policing which is incredibly frustrating for them.
“With forces snowed under by demand, unable to answer all 999 calls in some cases, chiefs are having to make some difficult decisions over which services need to be reined back.”
The total number of offences in West Norfolk increased by six per cent, with police recording 9,433 crimes over the course of the year.
This puts the overall crime rate at 62.1 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 89.3.
Other crimes recorded in West Norfolk included:
- 401 sexual offences, a rise of 17 per cent
- 2,189 theft offences, a decrease of 26 per cent
- 1,182 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 4 per cent
- 449 drug offences, up 6 per cent
- 101 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, up 66 per cent
- 806 public order offences, up 12 per cent
- There was also a 7 per cent increase in incidents involving knives or sharp incidents across England and Wales.
T/Deputy Chief Constable Paul Sanford said: “Norfolk remains one of the safest places to live in the country and continues to have the lowest crime rate in the East of England.
“These latest statistics show a continued rise in violent crime, robberies, sexual offences and possession of offensive weapons and the reasons for this are complex.
“I am certain that the rise in weapon offences is largely due to the increased number of operations we are running, many targeting drug related activity.
“The more we focus on these violent offenders, the more weapons we will find. I also believe that the increase in sexual offences demonstrates an increased confidence from victims to report such crimes.
“In addition, we know we have made significant improvements in the accuracy of our crime recording which is increasing the number of crimes we now record.
However, more improvements need to be made in this area so I believe that we will see further rises before crime plateaus and then reduces.
“I appreciate that any rises in crime will be of concern to our communities, particularly offences such as robbery.
“Our analysis of these crimes finds that rises in robbery are often attributable to illegal drug activity where dealers and users of drugs are in conflict.
“While it is important that we tackle these crimes, I do not believe that the risk of robbery for anyone not involved in drugs use or supply is any higher than it has been in the past.
“To reduce such criminality we need a concerted effort with our partners to address the growing number of chronic drug users fuelling the problems.
“Aside from drugs activity, the other main cause of increasing violent crime is abuse that occurs in domestic circumstances. We will continue to work with our partners to tackle domestic abuse in every way we can.
“Finally, it is pleasing to see burglary offences continue to fall, with Norfolk having the third lowest burglary rate in the country, as well as decreases in bike and vehicle theft and shoplifting offences.”
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for crime, Chief Constable Andy Cooke, said while the rise in reported crimes was concerning, use of targeted stop and search and other measures had helped reduce the rate of increase.
He said: “In the past few years cuts to policing have meant we’ve become more reactive to crime. With the recruitment of additional officers we will have more people on the beat and more people investigating and preventing crime.
“I am also concerned by increases in other offences, and that too few crimes are being solved and brought to court for justice to be done.
“This is a symptom of the strain on policing as we try to manage growing crime and demand that is ever more complex.”