Violent crime offences on the rise in West Norfolk

Violent crime offences on the rise in West Norfolk

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that violent crime is on the increase in the area over the last year.

Norfolk Police recorded 3,412 of violent crime in West Norfolk from June 2018 to June of this year – an increase of 19% compared to the year before.

Incidents of stalking and harassment are a main factor for the increase, rising by 37%, from 511 incidents to 701.

However, West Norfolk’s overall rate of violent crime remains lower than the rate across England and Wales, with 22.5 crimes per 1,000 people as opposed to 28.7 nationally. The overall crime rate also stands at 62.1 per 1,000 people compared to a national average of 89.3.

Offences of violence with injury rose by 5% (1,065 incidents) and violence without injury by 22% (1,644 incidents).

There was also one homicide, an increase of one on the previous 12 months.

Nationally, police recorded 7% more crime across England and Wales, with more than six million offices from June 2018 to June 2019. The total number of offences in West Norfolk increased by 6% with police recording 9,433 crimes over the 12 months.

Other crimes recorded in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk included:

  • 401 sexual offences, a rise of 17%.
  • 2,189 theft offences, a decrease of 26%.
  • 1,182 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 4%.
  • 449 drug offences, up 6%.
  • 101 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, up 66%.
  • 806 public order offences, up 12%.
  • There was also a 7% increase in incidents involving knives or sharp incidents across England and Wales.

Chief Constable Andy Cooke, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for crime, 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.”

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