Crime in Bedfordshire is up by two per cent according to the latest figures.

Published by the Office for National Statistics, they show that burglary is down by 16 per cent and robbery by 10 per cent.

However, there was an increase of 33 per cent for sexual offences – which could be put down to an increase in confidence in reporting and high profile non-recent cases.

Also on the rise is violence without injury (up 30 per cent) and public order offences, which went up by 31 per cent.

The figures cover December 2014 to December 2015.

Jim Mallen, chairman of Bedfordshire Police Federation, said: “While the overall crime picture in Bedfordshire is pretty stable, there are some worrying increases in instances of violence, public order and possession of offensive weapons.

“These latest figures only go to reinforce what the Federation has been saying for a long time – we can’t do more with less.

“However, it is also important to realise that the statistics also only cover a small portion of the work officers do. Day in, day out officers are working on anti-terrorism, looking for missing people, preventing child sexual exploitation and monitoring sex offenders. This is all of vital importance, yet it is not reflected in any statistics.”

Nationally, The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) shows that rape and sexual offences are at the highest level recorded since the national standard in 2003. There was an 11 per cent increase in homicide with figures rising by 56 to 573 and a 27 per cent rise in violence against the person offences.

The overall decrease of seven per cent was largely driven by falls in theft offences (down seven per cent) and criminal damage (down 14 per cent).

There was a seven per cent increase in police recorded crime compared with the previous year, with 4.4 million offences recorded in the year ending December 2015. Most of this rise is thought to be owing to improved crime recording by the police leading to a greater proportion of reports of crime being recorded in the last year.

National Federation chairman Steve White said: “While these statistics show a decrease of seven per cent in overall crime, one must drill down the numbers to see that the picture of crime in England and Wales is still one of trouble and concern.

“While better reporting by forces can account for some of the increase in figures, we do not want the public to have a rose-tinted view of the seriousness of crime that is occurring.

“That latest statistics further back-up our continuing claims that officers in England and Wales are facing ever-increasing workloads - this against a backdrop of fewer officers and ever-stretched budgets.

“There are some worrying increases here and we know that issues such as cyber-crime are vastly under reported. While police officers work tirelessly, and will always do their best to protect and serve the public, cuts do have consequences.”

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