Rise in criminal damage and arson in Bedford

More criminal damage and arson offences were recorded in Bedford last year, despite an overall drop in recorded crime.

Bedfordshire Police recorded 1,518 incidents of criminal damage and arson in Bedford in the 12 months to June, according to the ONS.

That was an increase of 3% compared to the previous year.

Sergeant Robyn Gleeson, from Bedfordshire Police's North Community team, said: “We run regular targeted patrols around anti-social behaviour, which we know has a big impact on our communities in Bedford.

“We will not tolerate this sort behaviour and we regularly adjust our local community priorities to reflect what is going in our areas.

“The figures also show a fall in sexual offences, theft and weapon offences, which is great news and reassuring for our residents.

“If you have any information or would like to report concerns, contact police on 101 or visit Bedfordshire Police's website.”

The total number of offences in Bedford fell by 5%, with police recording 14,884 crimes over the course of the year.

This puts the overall crime rate at 85.9 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 84.7.

Other crimes recorded in Bedford included:

430 sexual offences, a decrease of 5%

4,630 violent offences, a slight increase on the previous year

5,828 incidents of theft, down 13%

503 drug offences, up 12%

74 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, down 33%

1,402 public order offences, up 15%

At 8.8 crimes per 1,000 people, that was in line with the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 8.8.

Changes in society while coronavirus restrictions were in place led to most types of crime plummeting nationally over the period – although drug offences rose by nearly a third during lockdown – the Office for National Statistics said.

Overall, police recorded 4% fewer crimes across England and Wales, with around 5.8 million offences recorded in the year to June.

This excludes those recorded by Greater Manchester Police, whose data was compromised after the installation of new IT software.

The fall was driven by a reduction in crime between April and June when national lockdown restrictions were in place. Robberies saw the most noticeable drop during this period (47%), while theft offences fell by 43%.

In contrast, drug crimes soared by 30% over the three months, with offences rising from 44,064 in April to June 2019, to 57,132 this year.

Billy Gazard, from the ONS centre for crime and justice, said the drop in crime over the year could mainly be put down to changes during the coronavirus lockdown, but said police recording of drug offences “increased sharply throughout the April to June period, reflecting proactive police activity as overall crime levels reduced”.

“There are indications that crime levels in June were moving back towards pre-lockdown levels,” he added.