Crime is on the rise in England and Wales, increasing by 10% over the past year. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this jump brings crime levels back to what they were before the pandemic. But what’s really going on here? Let’s break it down in simple terms.

What Types of Crimes Are Increasing?

Over the last 12 months, there has been a noticeable rise in specific types of crimes. These include robbery, violence where people got hurt, and fraud. All of these are now back at pre-pandemic levels, which means we’re seeing as much crime as we did before COVID-19 changed our lives.

One of the biggest jumps was in shoplifting. In fact, shoplifting has hit a 20-year high! This means more items are being stolen from stores than at any point in the last two decades. The number of these incidents went up by a massive 29%. That’s a lot of stolen goods!

Why Are We Seeing This Increase?

You might be wondering why there’s been such a rise in crime. One reason could be that last year, we were still dealing with some COVID-19 restrictions. Less activity and fewer people outside might have meant less crime. Now that things are mostly back to normal, crime rates could be returning to what they were before the pandemic.

However, the ONS says it’s too early to know for sure if this increase is just temporary or if it’s the start of a new trend. They also pointed out that crime had generally been going down over the last ten years, so this recent rise is surprising.

What the Government is Saying

Dame Diana Johnson, the minister in charge of crime, policing, and fire, is very worried about this trend. She says that too many town centers are being hurt by high levels of shoplifting. Plus, the rise in crimes like knife crime, robbery, and theft is leaving people feeling unsafe in their communities.

She made it clear: “This cannot continue.” Dame Johnson has promised to boost police numbers and make the laws around shoplifting stricter to deal with this issue head-on.

How Much Crime Happened Last Year?

The ONS report says there were around 9.2 million crime incidents last year. This number includes theft, robbery, fraud, computer hacking, and violence, both with and without injury. That’s a huge number of crimes!

Among these, robbery, which is when someone is threatened or attacked to steal something, shot up. There were 139,000 robberies last year, more than double the 60,000 from the previous year. Violence that left people injured also went up, from around 376,000 incidents to 562,000.

But despite these increases, there’s a bit of good news. Violence overall is much lower than it was in the 1990s. In fact, we’re seeing two-thirds less violence now than we did back then.

Fraud is on the Rise Too

Another crime that’s been increasing is fraud, especially in the retail sector. Consumer and retail fraud, where people get tricked out of their money while shopping or paying for services, went up by 19%. There were about 963,000 incidents of this kind of fraud last year.

Fraud is becoming a huge problem. With the rise of online shopping and digital transactions, scammers are finding new ways to steal from people, and it’s happening more often.

What About Sexual Offences?

While many crimes have been rising, there wasn’t much change in the number of sexual offences last year. However, the ONS notes that sexual offences have increased over the past decade. This rise makes them a notable exception to the overall decrease in crime we saw before the pandemic.

Shoplifting is Out of Control

Shoplifting is one of the crimes that has reached record levels. Last year, police recorded 469,788 incidents of shoplifting, compared to 365,173 the previous year. That’s a massive jump! It seems like more and more people are stealing from stores, and this problem is getting worse.

Shoplifting isn’t just a problem for the stores. When items are stolen, it affects prices for everyone because businesses have to cover their losses.

What About Knife Crime?

Knife crime, which includes attacks involving knives, also rose by 4%. While that’s a worrying number, it’s still 2% lower than it was before the pandemic. This means that while knife crime is increasing again, it’s not as bad as it used to be.

Homicides and Theft

There’s some good news when it comes to homicides, which are crimes that result in someone’s death. The number of homicides fell by 3%, dropping from 578 incidents to 562.

On the flip side, theft from individuals, which includes pickpocketing and snatching, increased by 20%. This means more people are having their personal items stolen directly from them.

What Do These Numbers Really Mean?

While the crime figures might seem scary, it’s important to remember that recorded crime isn’t always the best indicator of general crime trends. Some crimes are more likely to be reported to the police, while others might not get reported at all. Changes in how police record crimes can also impact these numbers.

The ONS has also advised that the increase in recorded crime might be partly due to changes in police activity. For example, if the police are focusing more on certain types of crimes, like shoplifting, they might catch more people committing these offences, which would make the numbers go up.

What Happens Next?

For now, we’ll have to wait and see if these crime increases continue or if they’re just temporary. One thing is clear: the government and police are aware of the problem and are looking for ways to stop crime from rising even further.

Will shoplifting continue to break records? Will fraud keep increasing? Or will the steps being taken to fight crime start to make a difference? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, stay safe, be aware of what’s happening in your community, and remember that even though crime is rising right now, it’s still much lower than it was a few decades ago.