2018 has been a year of many ups and downs within many sectors and industries across Britain. From Brexit to the World Cup, it has been a year of many trials and tribulations. But one thing that has remained consistent throughout is the unfortunate raising figures of crime.
It has been reported that in the year to March 2018, reports of crime throughout England and wales went up nearly a 9 percent, according to the latest Office for National Statistics figures, and that the month of May, 2018 marked Britain’s most violent month on record within the last decade.
Knife crime specifically has risen by 16% and reports of robberies has gone by a third but, worryingly, less than 1 in 10 crimes resulted in a charge or summons and 57% of all robbery investigations are closed without any suspect being identified.
Up and down the country more than half of UK citizens have said that they are worried about the rising crime in their area are said to fear that the police have lost control. Since 2010 around 21,000 police officers have been cut from police forces across the nation and currently there are no funds available to replace them.
Appearing in a recent Channel 5 Documentary,” Crimewave 2018: Lawless Britain”, former metropolitan police officer Chris Hobbs said “Police officers on the front-line believe that they are losing control of the streets. That’s not just in London either, that’s places such as Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and West Yorkshire.”
Picture Credit: LeedsLive
In West Yorkshire, the latest figures released by Office for National Statistics show that Crime in general has risen by 11 percent but more specifically there was a 19 percent rise in violent crimes which caused injuries and a 27 percent rise in violent crimes which did not cause injuries.
Speaking to The Yorkshire Evening Post, West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson said;
“Whilst it is uncomfortable to see any increased risk of being a victim of crime in West Yorkshire, the trend does generally match the experience nationally which tells a story around the pressures and continued under-funding of policing.
“However, the overall rate of increase has slowed in West Yorkshire, which may be a sign that some of the local ongoing interventions, campaigns and operations are having an impact.”
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