Credit crunch crime wave: Theft, burglaries and fraud rise on the back of record unemployment
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
A recession crime wave has set in with a dramatic increase in theft, burglaries and fraud, according to new Government figures.
Soaring unemployment and dire financial straits have fuelled significant rises in bag snatches and pickpocketing.
Petty theft is up a massive 25 per cent, shoplifting up 10 per cent, drug offences up 6 per cent and child cruelty by nearly a fifth.
Burglaries are up 1 per cent to 284,000, the first increase in six years.
The British Crime Survey also revealed a staggering 313 per cent increase in fraud by company directors.
A recession crimewave has set in with burglaries, drug and knife offences all expected to rise, latest crime figures will show
Overall, fraud and forgery was up 5 per cent but those by executives soared from 198 cases to 818. Fraudulent credit card transactions are also up 4 per cent to 2.8million.
Murder cases fell by 17 per cent to a 20-year-low, with 135 fewer killings last year and attempted murders as a whole were also down by 7 per cent.
However, attempted murders using a knife is up 11 per cent and, although violent crime is down 6 per cent, rape of women is up 5 per cent.
More...
Stop giving us all these new laws, says chief justice
Revealed: The unemployment map of Britain as jobless total soars to 2.38m
Violent criminals 'will have lottery wins or compensation payouts confiscated' says Jack Straw
Spain is the hot spot for lost and stolen cards for second year running
How to travel through the crunch
The survey, which included crimes not reported to police, claims overall crime levels are stable although there has been a 1 per cent rise in the risk of becoming a victim.
It suggests almost a quarter of the population - 23 per cent - could now be targeted by criminals.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson admitted some crimes were on the increase and that the recession was a factor.
'We are not complacent. As in previous years, we see changing patterns of crime and we know that during economic downturns certain crimes face upward pressure, which is why we've already taken action to tackle these head-on,' he said.
The Government would tackle the rise in burglaries and theft with 'tough, targeted policing' and continuing to put money into preventative measures.
He conceded statistics gave victims no comfort but said the Survey showed confidence in local forces is rising.
Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said crime levels highlighted the need for more bobbies on the beat.
'If the Government ever listened to police officers up and down the country, then they'd cut their bureaucracy and paper work and get our police force back on our streets and into our communities', he said.
'That's how to beat any rise in the number of burglaries or any other crime.'
The figures represent a chilling reminder of fears expressed by then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith last years about a recession crimewave.
Last September in a shocking 12-page memo to Gordon Brown leaked to the Daily Mail, she predicted sharp rises in burglary and violence but less funding to put police on the streets to tackle the crisis.
'Our modelling indicates that an economic downturn would place significant upward pressure on acquisitive crime and therefore overall crime figures, it said.
It suggests similar economic conditions in the past, especially economic pressures and rising living costs led to a surge of up to 19 per cent in violent crime.
She also links economic pressures and rising crime to the appeal of far right extremist parties and racist attacks.
Official figures for the last three months of 2008 already revealed rises in 'acquisitive crime' including burglaries, knife-point robberies and pickpocketing.
During that quarter 75,600 burglaries were committed, a two per cent rise, and the equivalent of a family suffering a break-in every two minutes while drugs offences soared by six per cent.
Labour accused of 'massaging' knife crime figures
The Government has been accused of 'massaging' knife crime figures
Ministers were accused of 'massaging' crime figures today after it emerged more than 100 serious knife offences were committed every day last year.
Official figures showed police recorded 38,082 serious violent or sexual knife offences last year - amounting to 104 every day.
That includes more than 16,700 robberies, 369 rapes and other sexual assaults, 252 killings and 1,549 threats to kill - all involving knives or other sharp objects.
This compares to 25,013 in 2007/8 - an apparent increase of more than 50 per cent.
However, because the definition of what qualifies as a serious offence was changed this year, it is impossible to tell whether things are getting worse.
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said ministers were trying to 'cover up' the scale of the problem.
He said: 'It looks like the Government is trying to cover up the scale of the problem we face with knife crime, little wonder given its policies have failed to get to grips with the challenge.
'Massaging the figures on knife crime twice in two years is just an insult to the families of those who have been tragically murdered in knife attacks and who are campaigning for real action to get knives off our streets.
'Even ministers now accept they are being complacent about our law and order problems.'
Criminologist Dr Marian Fitzgerald added: 'I think serious violence is carrying on going up but they have deliberately presented the figures so you cannot tell this year.
'Figures on knife crime give no evidence at all that Government knife crime initiatives are making any difference.'
Last year, ministers launched a crackdown on knife offences as a string of high profile stabbings of youngsters prompted widespread public concern about knives in society.
The Tackling Knives Action Programme, which began in June last year, targeted 10 police forces with millions of pounds in funding.
But despite spending £12million and extending the scheme to cover six more forces, today's figures showed there was no change in the use of knives in violent incidents.
Despite a fall in robberies last year, to 16,701, the proportion involving knives actually increased by 1 per cent.
A Home Office spokesman said the changes to the definition were made to provide a 'more detailed' view of knife crimes.
He said: 'This year's overall knife figures can't be compared with last year's - they include whole new categories like ABH which weren't counted in 2007/08.
'For crime types which can be compared, like knife robberies and knife homicides, the overall total is down and provisional hospital admissions data published in June showed the number of teenagers being stabbed is falling.'
Explore more:
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0Wb0Nr2PA