Crimes involving stealing such as thefts of all kind, robberies, burglaries and shopliftings in Birmingham city centre rose more than the total crimes in the same area.
This group of offenses increased by 14%, from 556 in January 2017 to 633 in November, while the total cases rose by 12%, data obtained through street-level crime API provided by UK police shows.
Thefts from a person i.e. cases where a property is stolen directly from the victim without physical force, doubled in just one month, from October to November.
Robberies (offenses where force is used to steal) grew by 34% between January and October and other thefts, including thefts by an employee and blackmail augmented by 25%.
The six types of crimes involving stealing represented 36.4% of the total 17,260 criminal offenses in the area inside the Middle Ring Road last year. Shoplifting counted for most of it, with 2,049 cases and other thefts made for 1,774.
Increase council tax to invest in police
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for the West Midlands, David Jamieson, has considered “increasing the council tax precept for policing by £12 a year for a Band D property” and investing it on keeping officers and neighbourhood policing to reduce crime in a statement released today
He says that WM Police requires an extra £22 million a year “just to standstill”.
PCC David Jamieson's response to the latest crime statistics: https://t.co/bcGBQOGXIi pic.twitter.com/UQZC3obM0h
— WestMidsPCC (@WestMidsPCC) January 25, 2018
The number of crimes in the West Midlands also increased by 14% in the year ending September 2016 compared to September 2017, according to the West Midlands PCC.
Jamieson said these figures were “disappointing and a big concern”.
“These figures highlight the short-sighted approach of the government by continuing to apply real-terms cuts to police forces’ funding at a time when the pressures on policing are increasing.”
Analysis and reporting by Carmen Aguilar García and Victòria Oliveres.