Vehicle thefts increased nearly a fifth last year in the UK's biggest crime spike for a decade. Drivers had their vehicle stolen 97,152 times in the Vehicles Year to March 2017, a 19% jump on the previous 12 months, Government figures show.
Vehicles were broken into 250,000 times, an increase of eight per cent compared to the year before, and incidents of attempted theft have doubled in the last five years with a 14 per cent rise last year alone.
• Car security: how the industry is staying one step ahead of the criminals
The figures, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), go against the long-term trend of decreasing vehicle-related offences in the UK. Car crime hit a 20-year low in early 2016 and the number of vehicle thefts and break-ins have halved overall in the last 10 years.
John Flatley, of the ONS, said the figures showed “the largest annual rise in crimes recorded by the police in a decade”.
The statistics come as a Home Office report reveals the number of police officers at its lowest since 1985. Steve White, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “What more of a wake-up call does the government need?
“Government need to start to invest now in backing the police service so that it can carry out its primary responsibility, which is the safety and security of its citizens. These figures demonstrate that this has not happened.”
Have you been a victim of car crime? Let us know in the comments...
from Featured Articles http://ift.tt/2uPN1bY
No comments:
Post a Comment