Rise in serious violent crime in West Midlands
He added: “While crime figures remain an important area, they are only part of the picture as far as our communities are concerned.
“The real test of success is whether people see and feel the difference to their quality of life.
“I’m therefore pleased that the latest ‘Feeling the Difference’ surveys continue to show significant reductions in people’s fear of crime and improvements in their levels of satisfaction with West Midlands Police.”
Bloxwich police recorded the highest rise of 53.7 per cent in crime in the most serious violence category, followed by Solihull which saw a 46.7 per cent rise and east Wolverhampton which saw a 41.6 per cent rise – despite all three areas seeing a fall in overall crime.
But in Handsworth figures fell by 6.8 per cent, Stechford by 15.8 per cent and Harborne by 6.6 per cent. In the city centre there was a similar fall of more than six per cent.
Overall the number of serious violent crime offences in the West Midlands has risen from 3,107 offences in 2007/08 to 3,459 in the last 12 months.
But total recorded crime fell by more than eight per cent from 248,000 offences in 2007/08 to 227,743 in the year to the end of March.
Acquisitive crime such as robbery dropped seven per cent and vehicle crime was down nine per cent.
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