North Wales Police recorded over 11500 violent crimes in the 12 months to March an increase of 21%

Police reported crime in north Wales jumped by over 6% in the 12 months to March 2016 new figures released by the Office of National Office of Statistics  (ONS) on Thursday show.

A total of 38,663 offences were recorded by police in north Wales in the 12-month period to March 2016, 2236 more than the same period in 2015.

Crime’s categorised as ‘violence against the person’ increased by more than 21% in the between March 2015, 9,435 crimes recorded and March 2016, 11503 violent crimes recorded.

Despite the sharp rise in violent crime in north Wales, it’s 6% lower than the average of 27% across all forces in Wales and England.

There was also a big jump in the number of robberies reported in the region +18.6% while sex offences are still consistently rising year on year with over 18% more recorded in the year to March 2016.

The rise in the reporting of sexual offences is a reflection of the increasing confidence of victims to report such crimes to the police.

North Wales police has significantly increased specialist resources to deal sex crimes providing care and support for victims.

Commenting on the figures Assistant Chief Constable Richard Debicki said;

“North Wales Police remain firmly committed to keeping our communities safe and the most recent crime data identifies that crime continues to fall across many crime categories.

“These include robbery which is down by 4.9%, domestic burglary by 10.8% and the burglary of sheds, garages and other non-domestic buildings by 10.8%.

“The risk of household crime is now lower than anywhere else nationally in England and Wales, which is a significant achievement and demonstrates how safe our communities are relative to other areas.

“Meanwhile drug offences have reduced by 15.5% and theft fell by 8.7%. Shoplifting was down by 5.3%.

“Although the reporting of sexual offences was up by 18.2%, I believe that this is a reflection of the increasing confidence of victims to report such crimes to the police.

“We have significantly increased specialist resources to deal with these types of crime and provide care and support for victims, and aim to reach out to people to report these types of crime to us.

This approach is working with more people than ever willing to come forward.

“We are also putting real focus upon domestic abuse in order to increase the trust and confidence of victims to come forward and ask for help.

“Violence against the person was up by 21.9% and this increase reflects, but is less than, the increases that have been seen elsewhere nationally.

Improvements in the recording of crime in this area have particularly affected some categories of violent crime recorded by the police.

“We have good plans in place to address alcohol-fuelled violent crime in busy town centres and expect those who manage pubs and clubs to act responsibly.

“It is also important to realise that the nature of crime is changing. Like other forces we are dealing with the emerging threat of online fraud, cybercrime and other crimes perpetrated online such as child sexual abuse involving grooming and the distribution of sexual images of children.

“It is very important that the police service placed these areas right at the heart of its priorities and I expect, therefore, that the reporting of these offences will continue to increase, resulting in an increased level of crime overall.

“To protect people from cybercrime or a youngster from online grooming we are investing in our specialist cybercrime team.

“Despite an overall increase in crime of 6.1% to March 2016, the rise in our area is below the 8.7% England and Wales average.

Cyber Crime

Figures released on Thursday also show a huge jump in the number of cyber-crimes in Wales and England.

There were 3.8 million incidents of fraud, half of which were cyber-related and 2 million incidents of computer misuse.

This amounts to 5.8 million incidents, nearly as much as all other kinds of crime, combined, one in 10 adults in the UK were affected by cyber-crime.

The statistics taken from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, face to face interviews with citizens – and police recorded crime don’t give the complete picture says the ONS.