Drug crime on the rise say police

Police forces claimed a success over the drug offences figures

Drug crime has risen by 58% in Sussex and by 38.9% in Surrey over the past year, according to figures released by the police.

In Surrey, most other major offences have decreased with overall crime in the county down by 4.5%.

However, in Sussex the total recorded crime is up by 2%, with violence against the person up 20%.

The figures compare reported crime in the period from April to June with the same three months in 2004.

'Below national average'

Surrey Police claimed a success over the figures - due to a crackdown on drug supplying - and said the number of dealers arrested had nearly doubled.

Drug offences rose from 401 to 557 but in the same three-month period 97 people were arrested and charged with drug dealing, compared with 50 between April and June 2004.

Sussex Police said the drugs and violence figures should not be taken at face value, and pointed out that the increase in drugs offences was likely to reflect an increase in pro-active drugs operations by officers.

Between April and June there were 18,211 recorded crimes in Surrey, compared with 19,086 in the same period last year.

The rise in the reporting of violent crime and drugs is a measure of the success of our pro-active policing strategy Chief Constable Bob Quick, Surrey Police

Burglary from homes fell by 15.6% from 976 offences to 824, while thefts from or of vehicles dropped from 2,443 to 2,118 - a fall of 13.3%.

There were also fewer robberies in Surrey - 126 compared with 120 a year ago.

Serious violent offences against the person also decreased, falling from 104 to 97 reported crimes.

Overall violent crime became more frequent, with 3,626 offences - up from 3,507 in the same quarter of 2004 - but Surrey Police said they thought much of this was due to increased police intervention in town centres at weekends.

'Low impact' offences

But the force said even with the increase, Surrey remained the safest place in England or Wales for violent crime.

Chief Constable Bob Quick said: "The rise in the reporting of violent crime and drugs is a measure of the success of our pro-active policing strategy."

In Sussex, robberies were down 25% between April and June, while domestic burglary was cut by 3%, and thefts from vehicles were down by 12%.

The force attributed the rise in violent crime figures to "low impact" offences such as rowdiness or abusive behaviour, with 44% in the county involving no injury to victims.

"The recorded increase in these numbers continues to reflect changes in processes and recording methods since last July," a statement said.