More firearms offences in Bedfordshire despite police 'working tirelessly'
More firearms offences were recorded in Bedfordshire last year, new figures show.
Gun-related crime has increased for a third year in a row across England and Wales – although it remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Figures from the Home Office show Bedfordshire Police recorded 104 firearms offences in the year to March – up from 75 the year before.
However, this was a fall from 106 in the year to March 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic.
Detective Chief Inspector Aaron Kiff of Bedfordshire Police defended the force, and said: “We are aware that an increase in firearms offences is concerning for people across Bedfordshire and we want to reassure our communities that we are working tirelessly to tackle firearms criminality at its root cause and drive down this type of offending.
“Our Boson team are dedicated to tackling gang related activity, including firearms offences, and regularly carry out enforcement activity to apprehend those involved in gang crime and seize dangerous weapons.”
England and Wales saw a third consecutive rise in gun crime, with 6,447 offences in total, nearly 400 more than a year earlier and approaching the pre-pandemic figure of 6,665 in 2019-20.
Gun crime disproportionately impacts young people. According to the data, 46 per cent of victims were between 10 and 29 years old, despite this group representing less than a quarter of the population.
In addition, one in 11 victims were aged between 10 and 14.
Detective Chief Inspector Aaron Kiff explained: “We know drugs underpin firearms, knife and gang crime, which is why we’re working hard to tackle the issue of drugs in our county. We’re enhancing our intelligence capabilities to improve our understanding of drugs supply in the county, we’ve received additional funding to help bolster our response to county lines and we’re continue to work with our partners to address the root causes of drugs and its associated criminality.”
The figures further show firearms were discharged during 54 offences in Bedfordshire in the past year.
The year also saw a surge in the use of imitation firearms, with 2,719 incidents across England and Wales – a 23 per cent rise on the year before and the highest figure since 2005-06.