A SHARP rise in violent crime has helped to account for a 3.4 per cent increase in recorded crime over the last 12 months, according to the latest statistics published by Surrey Police.

There were 1,926 more offences compared to the previous 12 months, equating to a seven per cent rise.

In Surrey, 75 per cent of the 29,407 violent crimes recorded were for ‘assault without injury’, ‘malicious communications’ and ‘public fear, alarm or distress’.

A total of 7,531 of the violent offences recorded, were domestic incidents.

The force has committed to specialist training for its first responders as a result, they said last week.

Although the volume of offences are relatively small, another area of concern is a 32.2 per cent increase in robberies.

Of the 431 recorded, 376 were ‘robbery of personal property’, with nearly a third of these involving a blade or sharp implement.

To tackle this, officers have used their stop-and-search powers to target those believed to be carrying an offensive weapon, leading to a 16.5 per cent increase in possession of a weapon offences, with a significant proportion of offenders aged under 20.

Police stated the 15.2 per cent increase in serious sexual offences, which were up by 240, and more specifically the 40.3 per cent increase in rape offences, could largely be attributed to corrections made in its crime recording.

An inspection by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary highlighted some instances where multiple crime records should have been separated.

Those mistakes have now been rectified, hence the increase in the number of records but the force issued an assurance that Surrey continues to have one of the lowest levels of serious sexual assaults relative to its total population.

More positively, the number of burglaries across the county has reduced by 9.5 per cent (633 offences) compared to the previous 12 months.

The force hope operational activity introduced to target problem offenders and criminal gangs in the county in 2017, has begun to turn the tide.

The police are involved in a programme of property marking in homes supported by industry leaders Selecta DNA, so stolen property will become “too hot to handle.”

The activity is focused on areas repeatedly targeted by thieves.

Overall, the rate of increase in crime is substantially down from the 14 per cent rise recorded in March 2018 and the 20.1 per cent increase seen in September 2017.

Assistant Chief Constable Nev Kemp said: “It’s encouraging to see the rise in recorded crime in Surrey is beginning to stabilise and we continue to have one of the lowest crime rates in relation to our population.

“It’s important to remember in some instances it’s good news to see a rise in reporting, for example hate crime up 10.5 per cent to 1,849 offences, and domestic abuse up 7.3 per cent to 7,532 offences, which we know have been under-reported in the past.

“We’ve worked hard to increase the public’s trust and confidence in us and are now seeing greater willingness to report as a result.

“Areas of high harm including serious sexual offences, domestic abuse, child abuse and hate crime will remain priority areas for us because they are areas where we find some of the most serious criminality and where we need to protect our most vulnerable victims.

“We are continuing to improve our investigative work and ensure we provide the best possible support and guidance to victims.”