Covid: Police pressure as pandemic changes ‘landscape of crime’
Unprecedented changes in lifestyle in the coronavirus pandemic led to an acceleration in shifts in criminal behaviour in Wales, a crime expert has said.
Levels of reported crime fell across Wales from October 2019-2020, including in the first few months of the pandemic.
But figures show reports of cyber crime, stalking and harassment spiked.
Professor Martin Innes said challenges were “unprecedented” in modern times.
The Cardiff University professor said while it was hard to predict the future, an increase in digital crime during the pandemic, teamed with the economic impact and increases in social tension mixed for a “worrying cocktail” for post-lockdown crime.
Police forces across Wales have repeatedly warned of being under immense pressure during the pandemic as they try to enforce Covid laws while dealing with serious and violent crime.
Recent figures, released by the Office of National Statistics, show 245,591 crimes were reported to Welsh police forces between October 2019 and September 2020, a 7% fall on the year before, although this does not include fraud figures.
The number of fraud offences increased by 8% to 14,845 during the same period.
While the number of burglaries (-18%), thefts (-22%) and shoplifting offences fell between September 2019-2020, stalking and harassment reports increased by 11% in Wales, with 36,770 reports.
Domestic abuse charities also reported marked increases in calls for help when schools returned in September after abuse was not reported during lockdown.
Prof Innes, director of the Crime and Security Research Institute at Cardiff University, said crime had been shifting for years, but lockdown had seemed to accelerated rates of personal and digital crime, as people were stuck at home and spending more time online.
Dyfed-Powys Police saw the largest increase in reports of stalking and harassment offences, with 5,229 reports a 34% increase compared to the year before.
In North Wales police reported an increase in stalking and harassment crimes, as well as a rise in disability and transphobic hate crime.
While the coronavirus pandemic has seen many acts of kindness, police have warned some criminals have used Covid-19 to scam people out of their life savings.
Figures, published by Action Fraud, show victims of cyber crime and fraud in Wales have reportedly lost £35.4m, with almost 13,000 crimes reported since the start of lockdown on 23 March.
Health officials and police have warned scammers claiming to work for the NHS are targeting vulnerable people online offering fake Covid vaccines in return for cash or personal details.
Dyfed-Powys Police also reported a significant increase in romance fraud, with victims in west Wales losing £1.3m between January and November last year, with officers saying criminals are targeting the lonely in lockdown
Prof Innes said the shift to cyber, such as online hate crime, drug dealing over apps, and smear campaigns, was a huge challenge for forces and they would need to invest in expertise and technology to be able to recover evidence.
He said the impact of the pandemic on drug trade, and gang operations like County Lines, was concerning, as criminal operations would have changed.
“Just like everybody else has changed their behaviour in the pandemic, those involved in drug behaviour have probably done the same… and probably some of those innovations they’ve made will stick.”
At a recent North Wales Police and Crime panel Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said that officers were predicting an increase in “digital cyber criminality” and it would be a “complex and challenging” area for the future.
Source(BBC)