Rape cases double and stalking and harassment cases up 164% as Hartlepool sees 9% rise in crime

Overall crime in Hartlepool has increased by 9% compared to the same period last year, according to statistics which went before the Safer Hartlepool Partnership.

A meeting heard there had been 237 more incidents of recorded crime from January to March 2019 compared to the same time last year, a rise of 8.7%.

Community Safety team bosses noted overall crime had increased across the force area, with Hartlepool seeing the second smallest increase.

This includes a rise in the number of stalking and harassment cases reported, increasing from 146 to 385, a rise of almost 164%.

Rape offences also almost doubled from 18 to 35, but other sexual offences dropped from 31 to 19.

There was also a rise in shoplifting offences from 412 to 524, while public disorder offences rose 59% from 99 to 158.

Cleveland Police said officers’ continued support for campaigns against stalking and harassment and the increased figures could be down to a greater awareness.

The force also hailed a reduction of 20% in burglaries and a huge decrease of 61% in vehicle crime.

Several areas saw large reductions in the number of offences, including residential burglaries, dropping from, 221 to 176 and vehicle crime, which decreased from 339 to 133.

Burglaries from businesses and community buildings also dropped from 76 to 66, while antisocial behaviour incidents decreased by 298, a drop of 21%.

Rachel Parker, community safety team leader, said the figures cover a whole range of offences and improvements have been made in several areas.

She said: “The increase in Hartlepool was linked to a 52% increase in violence offences, however it’s important to note the increase in violence offences relates to a large increase in stalking and harassment offences.

“On the flip side the most serious violence, violence with injury reduced. There is a whole range of offences that sit under the category of violence.”