Drug offences up but overall crime falls

LONDON (Reuters) - Drug offences rose 14 percent in the second quarter of the year, Home Office figures show, but total recorded crime in England and Wales was down.

The rise in drug offences to 55,000 between April and June was attributed by the department to an increase in the use of police powers to issue warnings for cannabis possession.

The total number of crimes reported to police, compared with the year-ago period, was down 7 percent at just under 1.3 million offences.

Domestic burglary was lower at 3 percent, car crime fell 12 percent, criminal damage dropped 10 percent and violence against the person was down 8 percent.

According to the annual British Crime Survey (BCS), based on interviews with more than 40,000 people, crime figures were stable at 11 million in the year to June.

So-called personal acquisitive crime was down 10 percent and the risk of becoming a victim of crime remained at one of the lowest levels since BCS records began in 1981, at 24 percent.

Levels of anti-social behaviour were stable, as was concern over crime, according to the survey.

Violent crime resulting in injury increased by 2 percent, but fell by one percent, with no injury.

Provisional police statistics showed there were 9,712 firearms offences -- a drop of 6 percent -- in the year.