All crime in the county rose by almost 30 per cent year-on-year, with the largest increase being in “violence against a person” figures, which show an increase of about 75 per cent.
The statistics released by Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg show that 42,202 crimes were committed in the county in the 12 months up to September compared to 32,609 in the previous 12 months. This is a surge of more than 9,000 crimes.
During the same period the number of PCSOs has dropped from 150 to 100, while police staff numbers have risen from 910 to 947.
The number of police officers remains almost constant at 1,152 over the year, but this is down significantly on 2009 when the force had 1,580 officers.
Mr Hogg said he would scrutinise the figures in the next few months to “ensure the constabulary is doing everything it can to keep the county as a safe place to live and work”. He added: “It is important to emphasise that, although crime has increased, the harm to our communities (calculated using the Cambridge Crime Harm Index) has not increased.
“Burglary has increased over the past 12 months, however, in the last few months this has begun to reduce. A number of lengthy prison sentences, particularly for this offence, have also been given following work by the constabulary, and detection rates are twice the national average.”
Figures show that burglaries went up by about 12 per cent. Mr Hogg blamed a 12 per cent spike in vehicle crime on people leaving their cars unlocked and the use of technological advances in remote locks, which allowed criminals to access locked vehicles.
The number of shoplifting cases in County Durham rose by four per cent from 6,642 to 7,899 in the 12 months.
Mr Hogg said: “It is disappointing to see that shoplifting is now increasing again, and so this is an area I will be monitoring going forward.”
The rise in “violence against a person” statistics was attributed to changes in the way these crimes are recorded.
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