Opinion: Our crime statistics are shocking

After 13 years of Tory Government, over 90% of crimes are going unsolved. Frankly, that’s abysmal. It says that more criminals are being let off and more victims are being let down.

According to a recent Peterborough Telegraph story, 24,678 offences were recorded in the city over the last year – 10% higher than the previous year. Official statistics show the rise in crime in Peterborough was twice that of the whole of England and Wales, and higher than in the rest of Cambridgeshire.

If you ask most people, they will say they don’t see enough neighbourhood police across the city. Neighbourhood policing is not just about tackling crime it is about keeping the streets safe in the first place. Victims increasingly feel like no one comes and nothing is done. Labour, locally and nationally, is determined this must change.

Under the Tories, 21,000 police officers were axed over the last decade and recorded crime is rising at the fastest rate in a decade. Things cannot go on like this.

Labour’s starting point will be to put more police on the beat and new joint arrangements with the police and Crown Prosecution Service to improve the charge rate.

Recent analysis of the government’s own crime statistics shows a staggering 60 per cent drop in the overall proportion of crimes charged since 2015, with almost 70,000 fewer crimes charged last year overall than in 2019. More victims giving up on the criminal justice system than ever before with 1.6 million cases dropped, including almost one million violent crimes and 36,000 rapes.

Even with the recent increase in officers, policing is not keeping pace with our needs. Labour will introduce a new requirement for forces to run direct recruitment schemes for detectives to tackle the huge national shortage, including bringing in people who have worked in other fields such as business fraud investigation, technology, or child protection.

What do these shocking statistics mean for us here in Peterborough? It means that, despite all the ‘hard talk’, our MP backs a government that delivers little to keep us safe. Our Conservative Police & Crime Commissioner is missing in action. A change of government next year and a Labour MP in Peterborough will bring back proper neighbourhood policing by putting 13,000 more police and PCSOs (Police Community Support Officer) on our streets, including extra officers to keep the people of Peterborough safe.

We will put police hubs at the heart of our towns to give residents a place to share their concerns and secure their communities; a bit like the community police stations those old enough to remember them used to know.

And we will pay for this by launching a Police Efficiency & Collaboration Programme, working with police forces and PCCs to deliver over £350 million in procurement and shared services savings.

As the newly elected vice chair of the police and crime panel working with the Police and Crime Commissioner to support the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire for all non- operational matters, it is vital that we support our frontline police to the best of our ability locally whilst doing all we can to secure the resources to deliver the results that we all need and want to see, locally and nationally.

The Tories tell you they are putting ‘Bobbies’ back on the beat with record levels of recruitment. The reality is something different. We are being let down and deserve better.