CRIME has risen over the last year in Flintshire, official police records reveal.

North Wales Police recorded 12,976 offences in Flintshire in the 12 months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That was an increase of 15% compared to the previous year, when there were 11,322.

However, at 82.7 crimes per 1,000 people, that was lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 89.3.

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Of the crimes recorded in the area over the last 12 months, 469 were sexual offences – an increase of 8% from the year before.

Meanwhile, violent crime has risen in the area, from 5,419 to 6,228 over this period.

One of the main factors behind this increase was the rise in stalking and harassment, which rose by 24%, from 2,235 incidents to 2,762.

And theft offences rose by 5%, with 2,172 incidents recorded in the 12 months to March.

At 13.8 crimes per 1,000 people, that was far lower than the rate across England and Wales, which stood at 25.1.

Crimes recorded in Flintshire included:

  • 469 sexual offences, a rise of 8%
  • 6,228 violent offences, a rise of 15%
  • 1,517 incidents of criminal damage and arson, up 26%
  • 290 drug offences, down 4%
  • 70 possession of weapons such as firearms or knives, an increase of 10
  • 1,903 public order offences, up 26%
  • 2,172 theft offences, a rise of 5%
  • 2,762 stalking and harassment offences, up 24%

As a force, North Wales Police says it has undertaken detailed auditing of crime recording figures over the past 12 months.

This process has enabled NWP to improve accuracy in all areas of reported crime data, which has enhanced and informed our policing response.

Superintendent Nick Evans said: “Accurate crime recording promotes trust and confidence in our communities and allows us to plan our resourcing accordingly.

“Throughout this 12-month period there has also been a concerted focus on improving the victim’s journey through the organisation.

“Central to this objective is our risk-based audit plan, which focuses on the crimes that have the biggest impact on victims.

“In refining the identification of these offences we have also improved the service victims receive from our officers.

“Crimes such as Stalking and Harassment reflect this improvement. Since 2019, Home Office directives state that all-ex-partner harassments be recorded as stalking, and this is something we monitor closely.

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“As a result of this scrutiny, since July 2021 we have improved the recording of domestic abuse from an accuracy rate of 80% to 90%.

“Significant improvements have also been made in relation to ASB personal offences after warnings from HMICFRS that vulnerable victims were being overlooked.

“We began a programme of audit, feedback and training early last year and saw recording accuracy improve from around 60% to around 90%.

“It’s clear not all forces have taken this approach or had such dramatic improvements, making it difficult to compare crime data force by force or year by year.

“It is also the case that the reporting of crime was down during the Covid pandemic and as such, an increase in recording this year compared to last was certainly anticipated.”