According to new statistics that break out the most lawless parts in the nation, violent crimes like robbery, knife possession, and crimes involving weapons have increased across England and Wales in the last year.
Gun offenses nearly doubled, with 850 instances reported across the two nations in the first two quarters of 2021–2022, according to an analysis of Home Office crime statistics, up 49% from the 570 events reported in the same period the previous year.
237 of these incidents—a 2533% rise over the same period last year—took place in London, despite a 13% drop in knife possession in the metropolis.
Manchester had the second-highest rate of firearm crimes, with 69 incidents reported, although rural locations like Essex also witnessed an 81% increase owing to 58 offenses over the time period.
Police were summoned to 14,482 incidences of persons carrying bladed objects, a 15% increase in knife possession throughout the nation.
Check out the interactive map below to see how many violent crimes, sexual offenses, knife crimes, and vehicle thefts there are in your neighborhood.
Manchester and Birmingham had a 24% and 25% increase in knife crime, respectively, while Liverpool saw a 10% increase with 288 instances.
While there was a 10% increase in violent crime in England and Wales, the murder rate actually decreased by 9%.
Theft of automobiles increased by 31% in non-violent crime, with shockingly 64,385 autos reported stolen.
In reaction to the alarming increase in gun violence, MailOnline contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said that the department’s own statistics on gun offenses and the Home Office’s police recorded crime open data were “vastly different.”
The authorities said that 768 offenses were really committed from April to September 2022, up from 699 during the same time in 2021, a 14% increase, according to their own regularly updated numbers.
In order to compare crime rates to those seen a year before, MailOnline examined criminal statistics for 10 offenses committed across England and Wales.
According to the study, Staffordshire had the poorest performance in the nation outside of London due to sharp rises in violent crime.
According to the statistics, local incidents of robbery, burglary, knife crimes, and assault all increased by more than 50% in the first two quarters of 2022–2023.
Deputy Chief Constable Emma Barnett of Staffordshire Police acknowledged that there had been alarming increases in the neighborhood.
Although overall crime in Staffordshire is still low in comparison to other police force regions, she noted that certain crime categories have increased in keeping with national trends. It is important to remember that many crimes are still less common than they were before the outbreak.
‘Some crimes, such as car theft, have reached higher levels. We have established a new specialized squad to combat car crime because we recognize the effect this has on our communities. When the squad was established, there have been far less offenses.
Since returning to a local police paradigm in June of last year, we have been spending more time in neighborhoods and collaborating with partner organizations to address neighborhood problems. As a result, we are now making more arrests—on average, 82 more people are taken into custody each month.
Knife crime continues to be a top focus for Staffordshire Police and our collaborators.
We are going after repeat criminals, concentrating patrols in high-crime areas, and stepping up our preventative efforts among children and in schools.
“We have financing for knife wands to be used on patrol, and we helped put bleed kits in public places.”
Thankfully, there isn’t much gun crime in Staffordshire, but we nonetheless take all instances and concerns seriously.
All complaints of crimes involving weapons are given top priority, and our trained police react in a secure manner.
‘In October of last year, we reaffirmed our commitment to responding to and looking into every home invasion, unless there is a compelling reason why we are not required to do so.
“Extra patrols are helping to ensure that officers are clearly present in critical areas at times of day and night when analysis reveals crimes are most likely to occur,” said the police department.
“As part of our reform of our Public Protection Unit, we are considering how the teams who look into our most severe crimes, such serious violence and sexual assault, can offer the greatest assistance for victims and other vulnerable individuals.”
»Interactive map shows real-time vehicle theft and assault statistics«