Levels of knife crime offences in West Midlands are 'highest in the country'

The statistics reflect the problem with knife-related violence in our region, where there have been several tragedies with some involving young teenagers.

When looking at the number of offences per population, West Midlands Police had the highest rate, with 178 per 100,000 people.

It is followed by the Metropolitan Police (169 per 100,000), then Cleveland Police (137 per 100,000) and South Yorkshire Police (109 per 100,000).

Of the 50,510 knife crime offences in England and Wales in 2023/24, 30 per cent (14,961) were recorded by the Metropolitan Police, 10 per cent (5,268) by West Midlands Police and five per cent (2,321) by West Yorkshire Police.

New data from the Office of National Statistics show a rise in knife-related offences in the West Midlands, up by 76 on the year earlier. Staffordshire, saw a decrease in knife-related crime, with a total of 744 cases – a drop from the year before which sat at 823.

While knife crime remains a major concern, crime rates overall have dropped by 10 per cent in the West Midlands in the year to March, compared with the previous year.

Police and crime commissioner Simon Foster welcomed the reduction in crime, while emphasising how he would continue to hold the force to account, to ensure safety in the region continues to improve.

He said the ONS figures, showing a 10 per cent decrease in crime rates for the 2023/24 period, is a substantial drop and translates to around 35,000 fewer victims of crime, marking a notable improvement in the region’s safety and security.

Mr Foster said: “The 10 per cent reduction in crime is welcome because it means there have been around 35,000 fewer victims of crime, but I am not in the least complacent.

“I will continue to hold West Midlands Police to account and work with the chief constable and other partners, to prevent and tackle crime, protect the vulnerable and improve access to justice, safety and security.

“I am committed to constant and unremitting action, to ensure that people and communities receive the service from West Midlands Police, to which they are entitled.”

The figures reveal a 33 per cent rise in the West Midlands in unlawful driving that led to serious injury or death.

Sexual offences have jumped by four per cent in the West Midlands with 10,706 offences, while Staffordshire dropped by 12 per cent, with 3,392.

Burglary offences fell in the West Midlands by seven per cent, with 19,462 cases recorded, while Staffordshire’s increased by three per cent, with 4,527 cases recorded.

Drug offences dropped in both regions. Staffordshire saw a decrease of 17 per cent, with 2,050 cases and the West Midlands saw a drop of six per cent, with 7,497 cases.

Violence with injury has dropped in both regions, with Staffordshire dropping by 15 per cent, with 10,945 cases, and the West Midlands by eight per cent, with 36,094 cases.

And in another win for both regions, one of the biggest drops in offences is is theft from the person.

Staffordshire dropped by 40 per cent, with 318 cases, and the West Midlands dropped by 22 per cent, with 3,538 cases.

Staffordshire Police Chief Constable Chris Noble said: “Overall crime is falling in Staffordshire with 12,110 fewer (-12 per cent) crimes across the county in the 12 months to March 2024. The national decrease is three per cent.

“In terms of individual crime types, there has been a significant drop in violence against the person crimes – a reduction of 5,404 (-12 per cent). Elsewhere, we have also seen reductions in theft against the person (-40 per cent, -217 crimes), robbery (-17 per cent, -183 crimes), vehicle crime (-15 per cent, -972 crimes), sexual offences (-12 per cent, -507 crimes) and overall theft (-10 per cent, -2,842 crimes).

“We have seen a 15 per cent decrease (-2,863 crimes) in stalking and harassment. This is against a context where our officers are now better at identifying stalking and harassment after we invested in training for our staff and supporting victims. We also have stalking champions across the force that look for every opportunity to safeguard victims and robustly hold offenders to account. However, we know this remains an incredibly common and harmful crime and we know it is still underreported.

“Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) continues to be a force priority and alongside our partners in the Violence Reduction Alliance of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, we have a very clear role to play in protecting women and girls from harm and in pursuing perpetrators. We will hold perpetrators of VAWG accountable for their behaviour, and we continue to strive to ensure women and girls feel confident in reporting crimes to the police.

“It’s also positive to see a 10 per cent (-79 crimes) reduction in knife crime as we try to identify and deter those who might carry knives in our communities by conducting more ‘stop and search’, hotspot policing, as well as other targeted operations.

“Unfortunately, we have seen a three per cent increase (162 crimes) in shoplifting. This is far lower than the increase seen nationally (the national increase in shoplifting is 30 per cent and the regional increase is 26 per cent) but is a matter of real concern for me and my local commanders.

“We will continue to work closely with Staffordshire’s business community and I want to reassure them that we take every report of shoplifting seriously, and will work with businesses to bring those responsible to justice. We are committed to preventing the offence of shoplifting and any associated violence towards retail workers. We currently have a close network of dedicated officers at each LPT and within our Investigations Bureau who support the drive to prevent offending and gather intelligence concerning those most likely to impact on retail outlets.

“We have also seen a six per cent increase (152 crimes) in residential burglary offences. We know that burglary can have a significant effect on victims. Since 2020, we have attended and investigated all reported residential burglaries unless there is an exceptional and common sense reason for us not to do so. We have seen a significant increase in the number of arrests and charges for burglary. Our response to residential burglaries is reviewed and scrutinised by senior officers regularly. We have a cross-department focus on our response to prevention and investigation of burglaries, including investigations, offender management, forensics and intelligence.

“I’d like to thank our officers, staff, partners and volunteers who continue to work tirelessly to support victims and to identify and bring to justice those intent on committing crime. I want to reassure the public that Staffordshire is and remains a safe place to live but one we want to make even safer.”

Nationally, the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales has risen to a new 20-year high.

A total of 443,995 offences were logged by forces in the year to March 2024, up 30 per cent on the 342,428 recorded in the previous 12 months.

The figure is the highest since current records began in the year to March 2003, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which described the latest increases as notable.

Shoplifting levels had already reached a 20-year high earlier this year, with the latest figures showing the number of offences recorded has now risen even higher, with much of it blamed on organised gangs. The data comes in the wake of major retailers raising concerns about the rising cost of theft, and as the new Labour Government vowed to tackle low-level shoplifting and make assaulting a shop worker a specific criminal offence.