West Yorkshire Police bucks national trend seeing 10 per cent fall in knife crime

Knife crime in West Yorkshire fell by 10 per cent last year, the ONS said

The number of offences recorded by the police force dropped, bucking a national rise of six per cent in recorded crimes involving blades.

Nationally, knife crime reached record levels in the year between March 2019 and March 2020, according to statistics published by the Office of National Statistics today (Friday).

West Yorkshire Police recorded a drop of 2.6 per cent in overall crime in the same period, also bucking the national trend of a 1.6 per cent increase in all reported offences.

Violent crime in West Yorkshire fell last year, the ONS said

Robbery, vehicle crime, burglary and serious violent crime all saw the biggest reductions by West Yorkshire Police, with 3,250 fewer homes burgled in the county – a drop of 17.4 per cent.

These statistics mostly do not cover the period affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable John Robins QPM said: “I am very pleased with the reductions in crime and thank all our officers, staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication, alongside our partners for their help and support.

“Our local communities can be reassured that these reductions are an accurate picture of crime across our county, as a result of our determined focus and efforts to ensure crime is recorded accurately and appropriately. Our approach to crime data integrity has already earned us an ‘Outstanding’ grading from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS).

“Accurate crime statistics allow us to really understand the demands we face enabling us to deploy and prioritise resources to ensure the maximum possible impact. This is important because of the changing nature of the challenges we face with crime continuously evolving, increasing in complexity and occurring in environments which are often hidden or unseen by the public.

“We continue to ensure that our response to crime is focused upon victims, witnesses and the most vulnerable people in our communities. Given this I am particularly pleased with our recent improvements in victim satisfaction which have achieved their highest ratings since 2017.”