Rise in sexual offences in Bromley
More sexual offences were recorded in Bromley over the last year, despite an overall drop in recorded crime.
The Met Police recorded 526 incidents of sexual offences in Bromley in the 12 months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics.
That was an increase of 8% compared to the previous year.
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Hide AdAt 1.6 crimes per 1,000 people, that was slightly lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 2.8.
Around 5.8 million offences were recorded across England and Wales in the year to June – in line with the previous year – though there was a 3% decrease to 4.9 million offences when excluding fraud and computer misuse.
Nick Stripe, head of crime statistics at the ONS, said the figures showed overall reductions in the reporting and recording of many crime types during periods of lockdown.
However, reports of fraud and hacking continued to rise – something the ONS previously suggested was due to criminals taking advantage of behavioural changes during the pandemic, while many took to online shopping amid lockdowns when there were restrictions on movement.
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Hide AdThe total number of offences in Bromley fell by 8%, with police recording 21,586 crimes over the course of the year.
This puts the overall crime rate at 64.9 per 1,000 people, compared to a national average of 81.3.
Other crimes recorded in Bromley included:
6,440 violent offences, a slight decrease on the previous year9,113 theft offences, down 16%1,783 incidents of criminal damage and arson, down 6%168 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, up 15%1,716 public order offences, up 8%
The ONS figures show 61,158 rapes were recorded across England and Wales in the 12 months to June – the highest recorded annual figure to date, and up by 10% from 55,779 the year before.
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Hide AdThe second-highest number of sexual offences was also recorded over the period (164,763) – an 8% increase on the previous year.
The ONS urged caution when interpreting the data.
Mr Stripe added: “The rise could be due to an increase in victim reporting as lockdowns eased, an increase in the number of victims, or to an increase in victims’ willingness to report incidents, potentially as a result of high-profile cases and campaigns in recent times.”
Jeffrey DeMarco, assistant director at the charity Victim Support, said: “Much more needs to be done urgently to tackle both these offences and to ensure that those who come forward and report them are able to access justice.”