Police forces across England and Wales have recorded the highest number of crimes in 20 years.
A total of 6.3 million crimes were recorded in the year leading up to March 2022 which is 4 per cent higher than the previous all-time high of 6.1 million in 2019/2020. The figures have mainly been driven by a sharp increase in offences such as fraud, rape and violent attacks.
The data, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), recalled that knife crime, theft and domestic abuse have all increased over the 12 months leading up to March. Police records also recalled that fraud and computer misuse have risen 17 per cent from 828,364 cases in 2020/21 to 965,162 cases in 2021/22.
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Knife crime has also risen by 10 per cent to 40,027 offences in the year leading up to March, compared to 44,642 offences in the previous year. However, this is below the pre-pandemic year of 2019/20 which saw 55,078 offences.
Domestic abuse-related offences also rose by 8 per cent compared to the previous year with 90.504 recorded cases. However, it has been noted that the increase in recorded crimes may be due to the fact that the system of reporting crim has improved over the last few years.
Responding to the figures, Diana Fawcett, chief executive at the charity Victim Support, said: “Record rises in crime levels are always worrying – behind these statistics are real people, and being a victim of any crime can have a devastating and long lasting impact.
“Regardless of the reason for the increase, this huge rise in recorded crime coincides with victims across the country facing agonisingly long waits for trial.
“With the highest number of cases for 20 years coming into the criminal justice system, we need urgent action to address the backlog of cases, to ensure that those who’ve had the courage to report a crime get the justice they deserve.”
Billy Gazard of the ONS said: “Sexual offences recorded by the police were at the highest level recorded within a 12-month period in the year ending March 2022, a 32% increase from the previous year.
“These changes may reflect a number of factors including the impact of high-profile cases and campaigns on victims’ willingness to report incidents.”
According to police in England and Wales, sex offences have more than doubled in the past seven years - from 88,576 in 2014/15 to 194,683 in 2021/22. Rape offences have nearly doubled in the past fix years - from 36,320 in 2015.16 to 70,330 in the year to March.
Meanwhile, theft offences jumped by 15 per cent to 1.5 million in 2021/22 which remains below pre-pandemic levels, where the number peaked at over two million. Separate figures published by the Home Office on Thursday showed that just 5.6 per cent of offences in England and Wales from 2021/22 resulted in a charge and/or summons.
This is down from the previous year by 7.1 per cent. In fact, the charge rate has been on a downward trend for several years and now stands at around a third of the level in 2014/15, when it was 15.5 per cent.
The Home Office said these trends “are likely to reflect, in part, improved crime recording processes as well as a more complex crime caseload being dealt with by the police, with the rise in violence against the person and sexual offences”.
Furthermore, data from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) revealed that there were 1,733 rape convictions in England and Wales in 2021/22, up from 1,109 in 2020/21 and is also above the pre-pandemic levels of 1,429 in 2019/20.
However, the number of rape suspects charged increased from 1,955 in 2020/21 to 2,223 in 2021/22 - a rise of 14 per cent. Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC, and Chief Constable Sarah Crew, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for rape and adult sexual offences, said: “Rape is a devastating offence and we are committed to improving every aspect of how these life-changing crimes are dealt with.
“Close joint working from the very start of an investigation means we can build the best possible cases more quickly. With police going to the CPS earlier in the process and more often, the rise in charging decisions will lead to more trials and more convictions.
“Early advice in these cases has been key in helping us use our joint resources more effectively and narrow the gap between the number of offences reported to the police and cases going to court.”
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