Crime Falls 7% in Last Year

Crimes recorded by police in England and Wales have fallen by 7% in the year ending March 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics.

There were reductions in nearly all the main categories of crime including violence, but sexual offences rose 1%.  Separate data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed the number of crimes had fallen 9% since a year ago and the Home Office said the number of police officers had fallen to below 130,000 – 4,500 fewer than last year.

The Prime Minister hailed the figures as “good news” at a time of police cuts and thanked the service for its efforts.

Mr Cameron said, “We have asked them to do more with less resources.  They have performed, I think, magnificently.”

The Crime Survey, which is based on people’s experience of crime and includes offences, which aren’t reported, now shows offending is at its lowest level since the survey began in 1981.  Our correspondent said levels of crime had been falling since the mid 1990s, but there were some indications the decrease may now be slowing.

The Home Office has also released figures on the number of police officers, showing there were 129,584 officers at the end of March – 14,000 fewer than in 2010 and the lowest number of officers since 2002.