Police chief's pledge on protecting Shropshire

David Shaw made the comments while addressing the full meeting of Shropshire Council held at Shirehall.

New figures by the Office for National Statistics showed that a total of 60,783 offences were recorded in the West Mercia force area during 2014/15, excluding fraud cases which are collated separately.

The increase is above the average for England and Wales, which saw the number of recorded offences grow by two per cent to 3.58 million.

West Mercia Police recorded particularly sharp increases in violent crime and sex offences.

The force recorded 14,557 offences of violence, an increase of 35 per cent, while sex offences rose 55 per cent to 1,991.

PCC Bill Longmore said: "Historically, a lot of people have not gone to the police when they have become victims. Nowhere has this been more evident than with the so-called 'Savile effect', when many victims of historical sex abuse came forward to report the offences in the wake of scandals involving Jimmy Savile and others.

"The force has seen a big increase in reports of violent and sexual offences as a result of that – much like pretty much every other force in England and Wales.

"Some of the offences being recorded could have happened decades ago, but they will still count on the 'recorded crime' statistics for the last 12 months.

"Clearly, it would be preferable for these people never to have been victims in the first place, but it is encouraging to see that so many now feel able and empowered to come forward, report those crimes and seek justice, no matter when the offence occured, and I would urge all victims to follow in those footsteps and report offences.

"Myself, my deputy, and the police force have all put a lot of time and effort into actively encouraging people, across the board, to report crime when it happens.

"We have repeatedly reassured communities across West Mercia that it's the right thing to do, and that the police will take action.

Speaking to a packed chamber, he told councillors that policing would look "fundamentally different in five years time".

He said: "The financial situation we find ourselves in is part of the context but it is not what defines us."

"Does it concern me? Yes. But I am convinced we can continue to provide good policing for the people we look after." Mr Shaw also told the councillors that figures were showing an increase in some types of violent crime, although he insisted the changes are nothing to be alarmed about.

He highlighted increase in the number of victims of historic sex offences coming forward as one of the reasons for the increase. Councillors were also told that the change in approach to dealing with sex offences was encouraging other victims to come forward, leading to more prosecutions.

He said: "I think across the country we have seen many years of reduced crime but that is just starting to bottom out. That is not just our professional view, it is borne out by other external bodies.

"In some key areas it is quite dramatic. We are currently experiencing a significant rise in some forms of violent crime and the one of these that exorcises us most is around sexual offences.

"There is no doubt there has been post Savile effect and a considerable number of victims of historic sex offences are coming forward. Although they are often tragic, it is a positive thing that they are doing that.

"We are also seeing some victims of recent offences coming forward who previously might not have come forward because they can see the criminal justice system, from police through to courts, are dealing with them."

He added: "We are seeing some increase in business crime, shoplifting etc. It is not alarming but it is on the increase."