Star comment: Worrying increase in crime
The surge in crime reported in West Mercia, which includes Shropshire, and around the country generally is worrying.
Overall, crime in West Mercia is up by 14 per cent. There has been a particularly steep rise in house burglaries, up by 42 per cent.
Local communities will not need statistics to tell them that. The word gets around that the burglars are about.
In Dyfed Powys, overall crime is up three per cent, but the 67 per cent increase in robberies in a patch which has an image of being rural and peaceful is astonishing. What is going on?
The local picture is reflected by a depressing national picture, with a particular increase in violent crime, while the separate Crime Survey for England and Wales gives an estimated total of 10.8 million incidents of crime in the year up to July.
But the difficulty in making snap interpretations is underlined by the survey pointing to an overall decline.
This is the problem with statistics. Outwardly, they look completely straightforward, something to be taken at face value. Yet they are clues, indicators, a language with an up-front meaning and a hidden meaning on which there may be no consensus and a variety of explanations.
An increase in recorded crime may well mean an increase in real crime, but it could also be influenced by changes in the way crime is recorded, how enthusiastic people are in coming forward to report crime, and even changes in legislation which have created new crimes. And if all the attempted internet scams were diligently reported and recorded, the crime figures would go off the scale.
People do not live lives of statistics, but experiences. A friend may have been robbed in the street, a neighbour may have been burgled, the local corner shop may have been held up.
Nevertheless, these figures throw down a gauntlet to the police, and they will inevitably have a political dimension. Why are the figures going up? Is it because police are being starved of resources? In other words, are police cuts leading to increased crime?
These figures are ammunition for those who would argue for more resources for the police.
One of the areas which has been particularly hit has been crime prevention which, paradoxically, is an area of police work which appears to have been given little status.
If extra resources are not forthcoming, these figures do give a pointer as to the areas which need to be given priority by the police.
In the meantime, lock up when you go out, lock the car, and take care. You don’t want to become another statistic.
