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Recorded crime down 7%, ONS says Recorded crime down 7%, ONS says
(35 minutes later)
Crimes recorded by police in England and Wales have fallen by 7% in the year ending March 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics.Crimes recorded by police in England and Wales have fallen by 7% in the year ending March 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics.
There were reductions in nearly all the main categories of crime including violence, which fell 4%. There were reductions in nearly all the main categories of crime including violence, but sexual offences rose 1%.
However, sexual offences - rising 1% - and thefts such as pickpocketing - rising 9% - bucked the trend. Separate data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed the number of crimes had fallen 9% since a year ago.
Separate data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed the number of crimes had fallen 9% since last year. And the Home Office said the number of police officers had fallen to below 130,000 - 4,500 fewer than last year.
Despite the wider drop in recorded crime, one of the main crime categories to rise was "theft from the person" - which includes pickpocketing and bag snatches - up 9%.
Fraud offences have also seen a big rise, up 27% - but officials suggested this was due to changes in the way fraud was recorded, with a more centralised approach.
'Great tribute'
Statisticians attributed the rise in sexual offences to the "Yewtree effect" - referring to Scotland Yard's operation set up after the Jimmy Savile scandal.
The Crime Survey, which is based on people's experience of crime and includes offences which aren't reported, now shows offending is at its lowest level since the survey began in 1981.
On LBC Radio, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said falling crime figures were "one of the great triumphs of recent years".
"It's a great tribute to the police. I want to pay a huge compliment to all those police officers and everybody involved in keeping our streets safe that even though they've had to absorb cuts in their own services they've been able to bring crime down in such a big way," he said.
The Home Office has also released figures on the number of police officers, showing there were 129,584 officers at the end of March - 14,000 fewer than in 2010.
Officer numbers fell in 37 of the 43 forces last year - with the largest percentage decreases in the City of London force and Staffordshire. In the Met there were 1,742 fewer officers.