Recorded crime continues to rise in Nottinghamshire

All crime increased by 11 per cent in Nottinghamshire in the year to September 2018, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In total Notinghamshire Police recorded 102,503 crimes - which is more than 10,000 more crimes than the previous year.

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesperson said: "While we believe some of this is a genuine increase in crime, we know that some is attributed to the fact we now record more incidents as crimes as we move closer to full compliance with National Crime Recording Standards.

"An ongoing national drive to boost this compliance as part of police force inspections has coincided with 37 out of 43 UK police forces recording an increase in crime."

Detective Chief Superintendent Gerard Milano, head of crime for Nottinghamshire Police, said: "The difficulty with comparing forces by raw recorded crime statistics is that forces differ in terms of their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standards - so you are not necessarily always comparing like with like.

"There are other complexities to take into account when trying to understand the figures. For example, we have had an increase in drugs offences which is at least in part a reflection that we have had some successful proactive drugs operations.

"We know that recorded crime is rising in Nottinghamshire.

"The demand on the force means we have to make difficult decisions while ensuring that we are always prioritising those where there is the greatest threat, risk or harm to the public.

"This approach means we can best focus our available resources where they are most needed and the success of this is shown in our satisfaction rates for offences such as domestic abuse, which are over 92 per cent, and hate crime, which are 81.5 per cent.

"The force has also started a pilot project engaging with survivors of rape offences, and early indications show that almost eight in every 10 respondents are satisfied with the service they have received from Nottinghamshire Police."

One crime type which has reduced in the ONS figures in Nottinghamshire is burglary, which fell by three per cent.

Knife crime increased at a slower rate in Nottinghamshire than the rest of the country - with an 11 per cent rise compared to the national average of 13 per cent.

The latest figures show sexual offences increased by 10 per cent in the year to September 2018.

Det Chief Supt Milano said: "We see an increase in reports of this type of crime as a positive because it is my judgement that there has been a degree of underreporting in the past.

"I believe that we are seeing a societal shift which means people are more confident to come forward and report these offences to the police.

"Added to that is the fact there has been a rise in people reporting historic sex offences, which means many crimes being recorded this year despite happening many years ago in some cases."

Other key crimes that have risen include robbery (25 per cent), violence against the person (16 per cent), vehicle offences (13 per cent), theft (eight per cent), possession of weapons (13 per cent) and drugs (11 per cent).

Det Chief Supt Milano added: "Nottinghamshire is no different than other forces across the country in seeing increases in these crime types.

"We know that every crime is important to the victim but our focus has to be on safeguarding the most vulnerable victims first.

"So when I see very high satisfaction rates in our service from victims of domestic abuse, sexual offences and hate crime then I see that as a good measure of our success."