Big rise in number of stalking, theft and burglary crimes being recorded in North Wales

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) this week show the number of crimes recorded by North Wales police has continued to rise.

The latest data from the ONS for the 12 months to December 2017, reveal there were 48,022 crimes reported to the North Wales force, an increase of 18% – and highest number in nine years.

Stalking and harassment offences saw on of the largest increases up by 88% with 2983 related crimes recorded by officers in the region, 1585 were recorded the previous year.

There was also a sharp rise in reported domestic burglary which has increased by nearly 59% for the same period, 2184 burglaries were reported in the 12 months to December 2017 up from 1375.

Theft from a person rose by 56%, sex offences increased by 32% with 583 more reported than the previous year, there were 13 homicides and increase of six.

The chance you’ll become a victim of crime in North Wales is relatively low, statistically – compared to the Wales and England averages, in the North Wales force area 69 crimes per 1000 people were recorded.

The average crime rate in Wales is 72.5 per 1000 people and in England it is 81.8 crimes recorded per 1000 people.

North Wales Police Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard said; “North Wales remains one of the safest areas of the country to live and work and we are committed to keeping our communities safe.

These quarterly figures are a useful indicator, although changes in recording methods have affected the way some categories of crime are recorded, and we will continue to strive to reduce crime across the board.”

DCC Pritchard added: “Although there is always room for improvement we put a huge effort into bringing offenders to justice.

The nature of crime is changing, for example a rise in online crime, and policing in is becoming more complex.

Meanwhile officers deal with many other tasks not recorded in crime figures, such as, tracing missing youngsters, dealing with vulnerable people and policing our roads.

We face many challenges and pressure on resources, but I’d like to reassure our communities that a safer North Wales is our priority.”

Flintshire MP responds to latest figures.

Delyn MP David Hanson said he was ‘appalled’ at the latest crime figures and said they ‘demonstrate how the UK Government has lost its grip of law and order.’

Mr Hanson, Labour’s last policing minister says the news comes on the back of falling central government funding for North Wales Police. Due to inflation North Wales Police will experience a £2.1m cut to funding next year.

David Hanson MP said:

“These shameful statistics demonstrate how the UK Government has lost its grip of law and order.

They have continued to chronically under fund North Wales Police which has resulted in police officers lost.

We only have to look at the spate of burglaries and anti-social activity across our communities to see the impact of this restriction on resources.

We are now seeing offences being committed in villages on a level not seen since the mid-1990s.

Police officers are working tirelessly with community leaders to try and wrestle with this problem but as long as there are fewer Bobbies on the beat they will struggle to do so.

The police are doing a great job in difficult circumstances.

Not only have the past seven years of underfunding create risks for our safety, but they have also meant people’s Council Tax has had to increase.

With funding from the UK Government falling our police force has no other choice than try to get money back through local taxation. This is unfair and puts more pressure on household income.”

Cheshire Police

Cheshire police saw a dramatic increase in the number of crimes on their patch, there was a 36.4% increase in overall recorded crime between December 2016 and December 2017 up to 82,443.

Cheshire’s police and crime commissioner, David Keane said he will “work very closely with the force’s acting chief constable to address an increase in recorded crime in the area.”

“It is disappointing to see that there has been an increase in the amount of crimes recorded across Cheshire over the last year

While it is worth noting that this increase can partially be attributed to an improved crime recording process introduced by Cheshire Constabulary, there has also been an increase in some crimes that we would not expect to be significantly affected by changes to crime recording.

This includes an increase in shoplifting, vehicle offences and burglary – with all three crimes also seeing an increase on a national scale.”