A RISE in violent crime has helped account for a 3.4 per cent rise in recorded crime in the last 12 months, according to the latest statistics for Surrey Police.

The overall increase represents a marked reduction on the 14 per cent rise recorded in March 2018 and the 20.1 per cent increase seen this time last year.

But violent crime received the largest proportion of the increase with 1,926 more offences recorded in the year to September 30 - up seven per cent. Three quarters of these violent offences are ‘without injury’, with the main increases relating to ‘assault without injury’, ‘malicious communications’ and ‘public fear, alarm or distress’.

In addition, 7,531 of the total 29,407 violent crimes recorded in the last year are classed as domestic incidents, which is why the force has committed to training more than 90 per cent of first responders through the College of Policing-accredited DA Matters scheme.

Although the volume of offences are relatively small, another area of concern is the 32.2 per cent increase in robberies. Of the 431 robberies recorded, 376 relate to ‘robbery of personal property’ with nearly a third of these involving a blade or sharp implement.

Commenting on the figures, the force said some of the overall 3.4 per cent increase can be attributed to improvements in Surrey’s crime recording, as well as a greater willingness to report offences such as hate crime and domestic abuse.

Assistant Chief Constable Nev Kemp said: “It’s encouraging to see that the rise in recorded crime in Surrey is beginning to stabilise and we continue to have one of the lowest crime rates in relation to our population.”