The increase is revealed in a Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) “Crime in England and Wales, year ending June 2018” bulletin
It shows there were a total of 40,782 crimes in North Yorkshire during the 12-month period, giving a crime rate of 49.7 per 1,000 of the population.
This 9% local increase is below the national average crime increase of 10%.
Broken down into the main crime categories, the ONS figures for North Yorkshire show:
- Burglary decreased by 1% (3,658 crimes in total, of which 2,235 are recorded as domestic burglaries and 1,423 non-domestic burglaries)
- Drug offences increased by 6% (1,592 crimes in total)
- Violence and against the person increased by 20% (11,811 crimes in total), which is broken down into Violence with Injury (5,112 crimes in total, a 10% increase); Violence without Injury category (4,821 crimes in total, a 22% increase); Harassment and Stalking (1,849 crimes in total, a 47% increase)
- Possession of weapons offences up by 22% (247 crimes in total)
- Robbery increased by 14% (183 crimes in total)
- Theft offences increased by 4% (16,822 crimes in total)
- Theft from the person down by 1% (444 crimes in total)
- Bicycle theft reduced by 12% (1,095 crimes in total)
- Shoplifting increased by 11% (4,686 crimes in total)
- All other theft offences up by 2% (4,466 crimes in total)
- Criminal damage and arson up by 3% (5,934 crimes in total)
- Vehicle Offences were up 15% with 2,473 crimes in total
- Sexual offences increased by 13% (1,649 crimes in total). As previously highlighted, this rise is regarded as a reflection of the confidence victims have in North Yorkshire Police, particularly those making historical complaints in the wake of high profile historical sexual abuse cases, plus support from dedicated facilities for victims of sexual assault
- Public order offences up by 18% (1,774 crimes in total)
- Miscellaneous crimes against society, which includes the possession and publication of extreme sexual images, fell by 2% with 743 crimes in total
Chief Constable Lisa Winward said: “Today’s figures show North Yorkshire remains the lowest crime area in England and Wales. There has been an increase in recorded offences, but this is also slightly lower than the national average.
