Rise in violence sees Stafford hit two-year crime high
Violent crime and anti-social behaviour have soared to their highest levels in two years in Stafford.
Latest figures reveal there were 747 crimes in total reported to police in the town in July – only the second time the figure has been above 700 in the last 24 months.
The number of offences recorded as ‘other violence against the person’, which includes common assault, harassment and stalking, was 170 – the highest figure in two years. These crimes are now the joint most common in the borough – along with theft.
Meanwhile, the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour has more than doubled from 208 in January to 456 last month – also the highest figure in two years.
The biggest rise has seen the category of ‘less serious crime with injury’ jump by more than 50 per cent to 137 incidents from 90 in June – the only time in two years there have been more than 100 reports in one month.
Stafford borough councillor Christine Baron, secretary of the crime prevention panel, said: “People haven’t got an excuse in Stafford. Employment is high.
“I do feel there is a minority of people, aged 14, 15, 16, that have a lack of respect and discipline. It is an education thing.”
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “In Stafford, we’ve seen an increase in overall recorded crime statistics.
“The crime statistics reflect changes to the way we now define certain crime. But in some areas – like criminal damage and residential burglaries – we’ve seen a fall in offences recorded in Stafford borough.
“The number of residential burglaries, for example, has fallen from a peak of 62 in September 2015 to 25 in July this year.
“In other offences, such as public order offences and violence, we’ve seen an increase but we are not complacent.
“We continue to focus on crime prevention through better intelligence, working with our partners, and taking robust action against offenders when crime is committed, so that we can make the area a safer place to live, work and visit.
“Equally, in Stafford and our other local policing teams, we are committed to targeting areas where anti-social behaviour is causing concern.”
