Figures reveal robberies and sexual offences rose in Bedfordshire over past year

More robberies and sexual offences were recorded by police in Bedfordshire in the past year, new crime figures show.

The Office for National Statistics said recent police data provides insight into which crimes are returning to pre-pandemic levels, while others remain relatively below or significantly higher than levels before Covid-19.

ONS figures show 591 robbery offences were recorded by Bedfordshire Police in the year to March 2023 – up 2% from 582 the year before. However, it was down from pre-pandemic levels when 833 robbery offences were recorded in the year to March 2020.

A spokesperson from Bedfordshire Police said: "There has been a fall in overall crime levels, which remain around nine per cent below pre-pandemic levels. Reducing robbery is a key element in tackling violence, so we will continue to do all we can to bring this crime type down and protect our communities.

“Our strategy includes bringing offenders to justice, identifying long-term hotspots, short-term spikes, key offending patterns and offering crime prevention advice, as well as continuously encouraging members of the public to report any incidents or anything suspicious to us."

Across England and Wales, there were 75,300 robberies recorded in the most recent year – a jump of 13% from 66,300 in 2022. But compared to 2020, it was down 17%.

Nick Stripe, from the ONS Centre for Crime and Justice, said: "Some crime types are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, while others may have been affected by changes in people’s behaviour during the pandemic and the subsequent lifting of social restrictions."

"For crimes which are well reported and recorded by the police, we can gain additional insight from police data. Knife crime, robbery and firearms offences are all down on March 2020 levels, but have seen increases in the past year," he added.

"Overall crime continues to be well below levels seen before the pandemic. This is in large part due to sharp falls in theft and criminal damage."

In Bedfordshire, 1,737 sexual offences were recorded in the past year – up 2% from 2020.

The spokesperson for the police added: “As a force, we are committed to tackling sexual offences and we are doing lots of work to build confidence and encourage anyone who has been affected by these types of offences to come forward.

“Since the launch of our male violence against women and girls (MVAWG) strategy we have run a number of initiatives to target offenders and make women and girls across Bedfordshire feel safe.

“We treat all reports we receive with the utmost importance and will continue to do all we can to pursue offenders, protect and support victims, and work with our partners and communities to keep improving the service we provide and keep the streets of Bedfordshire safe.”

Overall, Bedfordshire Police recorded a total of 50,904 crimes in 2023. It was a decrease from 55,968 crimes recorded pre-pandemic. The rise reflects improvements in police recording practices and increased reporting by victims, which means the figures "do not provide a reliable measure of trends in these types of crime", the ONS said.