PRESS ASSOCIATION
Significant rises in burglaries and opportunistic thefts are creating a risk to the public, police chiefs have warned.
Burglaries rose 14% in 2010/11, the British Crime Survey showed, while police figures showed the number of thefts of unattended mobiles, wallets and purses from pubs, household property, from gardens, and metal or industrial equipment was up 10%.
Chief Constable Jon Murphy, head of crime for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), warned the high price of metal was fuelling a significant increase in metal thefts, with the British Transport Police reporting a 70% increase in the theft of cables.
"The high price of metal is driving what is a significant increase in metal theft due to the price of second-hand scrap metal," Mr Murphy said. "This has a potentially significant impact on the national critical infrastructure and consequent risk to the public."
Police chiefs were also studying the "emerging patterns of criminality" in burglaries and some other thefts, Mr Murphy said.
Overall, crime levels in England and Wales remained stable, but officials said the reductions seen since the mid-1990s were beginning to ease.
The British Crime Survey (BCS), based on interviews with tens of thousands of people in more than 45,000 households, showed burglaries rose 14% in 2010/11 compared with the previous year, when burglaries fell by 9%.
Overall, there was an easing of the falling levels of crime after "sustained reductions" since the mid-1990s, with an estimated 9.6 million crimes in 2010/11, compared with 9.5 million the previous year, the BCS figures showed. Around one in 40 households had been victims of burglary or attempted burglaries in the last year, according to the survey.
Crime and Security minister James Brokenshire said: "We have consistently argued that crime is too high and that is why our policing reforms are so urgently needed. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their home and local community."
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Now is not the time for the Government to take risks with community safety by cutting over 12,000 police officers. People want crime to fall further and the Government is doing nothing to help."