By Marcus Johnstone

It seems like every week we are exposed to new crime statistics, and headlines celebrating a perceived decline in crime.

The most recent data, released by the Office for National Statistics, concludes a fall in most reported crime overall, but a sustained increase in the number of reported sexual offences.

Whilst I do not doubt that this is an accurate reflection of the official figures, I cannot imagine that the average person would agree that our streets are any safer than they were 10 years ago.

The way society experiences crime is changing. The police will seldom take a complaint of phone theft or shoplifting seriously, dissuading many victims of these crimes from ever making a report.

Meanwhile, a victim of rape or sexual assault is now progressively more likely to make a complaint, and the police strongly incentivised to investigate it.

The........

© LBC