Surges in drug, weapon and violent crimes recorded in parts of West Midlands

The latest official statistics show crime recorded by Staffordshire Police shot up by 40 per cent in the year to March, while there was a rise of two per cent in crime recorded by West Midlands Police.

There were 98,401 crimes recorded by Staffordshire Police in the year to March, compared to 70,759 crimes in the previous year, according to the figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Crimes reported to West Midlands Police rose to 367,206 from 361,649 in the same timeframe.

In Staffordshire, crimes involving violence used against a person increased by 34 per cent, after 43,547 crimes were recorded, while those types of crimes recorded by West Midlands Police fell five per cent, with the figure standing at 152,245 in the year to March.

There was a 49 per cent rise in violence with injury offences in Staffordshire, which stood at 12,939 crimes recorded in the 12 months to March.

There was also a 43 per cent rise in stalking and harassment crimes, 46 per cent increase in robbery reports and 59 per cent hike in vehicle offences.

Drugs offences soared by 121 per cent, with 2,397 crimes recorded in the year to March, up from 1,088.

While possession of weapon offences saw a 71 per cent rise, from 537 to 920.

Of the crimes recorded by West Midlands Police in the year to March, vehicle offences increased by 19 cent compared to the previous 12 months, with 38,958 crimes recorded.

Possession of weapon offences were up 21 per cent to 7,409, from 6,138.

Drug crime had also risen six per cent to 8,012 crimes recorded in the year to March.

However, crime reports fell for criminal damage, arson, bicycle thefts, sexual offences, stalking and harassment and violent crime.

Figures show that total recorded crime also rose across England by five per cent in the year to March, with 5,244,058 offences recorded.

A statement from Staffordshire Police said: "The latest crime statistics, released by the Office for National Statistics on July 20, show an increase in recorded crime within Staffordshire compared to a baseline of March 2020.

“However, while our recorded crime figures for this reporting period are higher, this is in part reflected by a recording issue and our subsequent work to address that issue, having strengthened our internal crime validation process. This now means crimes are recorded more swiftly.

“We remain diligently focused on protecting the most vulnerable through our Public Protection Unit and improving the service we provide to victims. We have also created a specialist team to investigate burglaries in Stoke-on-Trent, and have a long-running programme to tackle the increase in vehicle crime we have faced.

"Most recently, we have also been included in the Government’s new anti-social behaviour pilot, which will enable us to deploy additional resources in key areas across the county, reflecting local priorities.

“We are, too, seeing a number of positive outcomes since introducing our new community-focused local policing structure last year. This includes officers spending more time in local communities and dealing with the issues that matter most to local people.”

West Midlands Police Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green said: “These latest statistics take us up to April 2023 which was when we introduced our new local policing operating model. This heralded a totally new approach for West Midlands Police, focusing resources on things that matter most to our communities with more officers dedicated to working in local communities to prevent and solve crime.

“Since introducing the new local policing model in April, the force has seen significant reductions in crime including in the areas that have the most negative impact on people’s lives, including burglary and vehicle crime. Since April we have seen a 9 per cent reduction in burglary and a 3 per cent reduction in vehicle crime.

“In May we saw the highest level of offenders bought to justice since April 2020. We have also improved our call answering time with 89 per cent of 999 calls now answered within 10 seconds (up from 69 per cent in November).

“As well as the new model, the force has also introduced a number of different initiatives which have had a positive effect on the crimes that affect our communities the most. This includes the introduction of a dedicated force vehicle crime task force which has seen significant results. Since April we’ve recovered over 600 stolen vehicles and have made 169 arrests for vehicle-related offences. We’ve also identified over 20 so called ‘chop shops’ who deal in stolen cars and car parts.

“Our Op Guardian dedicated patrols in key areas for serious youth violence have also contributed to a 6 per cent reduction in violence with injury. Knife crime and serious violence remains a top priority for the force. We understand the devastating impact these crimes have and we will continue to work to reduce offending and ultimately save lives. As part of this, April saw us sign up to be part of a national pilot which gives officers additional powers for tackling knife crime, including the introduction of serious violence reduction orders. These orders will help to tackle prolific, high-risk offenders, by making it easier officers to search them for weapons.

“We are also seeing the results of our three-year recruitment drive with 3,000 officers joining the force via a number of entry routes. We now have over 8,000 officers which means we can get more officers out into our communities focusing on what matters to people most.

“We are already seeing a significantly improved service for the public with total recorded crime down by 6.7 per cent since April and a significant increase in the numbers of offenders we are bringing to justice. We will continue to work hard to serve our communities and make them safer.”