Crime stats show rise in recorded offences in West Mercia Police area
Crime recorded by the county's police force has jumped by nine percent according to the latest figures.
The Office for National Statistics has released its latest data, showing the recorded crime across the country for the 12 months up to March this year.
For West Mercia, which covers Shropshire, total crime is up by nine per cent, with a total of 95,006 offences.
For Dyfed Powys Police the rise was six per cent, with a total of 44,843 recorded crimes.
A number of categories of offences have seen rises for West Mercia.
They include robbery, which is up by 27 per cent, with a total of 693 offences, and theft – up by 19 per cent, with 27,407 offences.
There were 38,874 recorded offences of violence against a person, representing a rise of two per cent.
Stalking offences were up three per cent, and sexual offences also rose by two per cent.
Burglary saw a 12 per cent jump, with 5,089 offences across West Mercia, while vehicle offences were also up by nine per cent.
Theft from a person saw a 14 per cent rise, bike theft was up by 28 per cent, and shoplifting rose by 27 per cent – with 7,731 offences.
Criminal damage dropped by three per cent, while drug offences were also down by four per cent.
There were however big rises in possession of a weapon, which was up by 23 per cent, and public order offences, which rose by 24 per cent.
In Dyfed Powys robbery was up by 46 per cent, theft by 10 per cent, with shoplifting specifically increasing by 25 per cent and bike theft by 20 per cent.
However theft from a person was down by nine per cent.
Violence against the person was up by three per cent and sexual offences also increased by four per cent.
Burglary offences saw no change, and vehicle offences were down by one per cent.
Criminal damage was down by one per cent, but drug offences saw a huge rise of 42 per cent, along with possession of a weapon which rose by 50 per cent.
Public order offences also rose by five per cent.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said crime trends are emerging in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The ONS said some crimes have returned to pre-pandemic levels and others may have been affected by changes in people's behaviour during lockdowns.
Nick Stripe, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: "Some crime types are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, while others may have been affected by changes in people's behaviour during the pandemic and the subsequent lifting of social restrictions.
"Overall crime continues to be well below levels seen before the pandemic. This is in large part due to sharp falls in theft and criminal damage."
He added: "For crimes which are well reported and recorded by the police we can gain additional insight from police data. Knife crime, robbery and firearms offences are all down on March 2020 levels, but have seen increases in the past year. Imitation guns are driving the rise in firearms offences."
