HC Deb 23 November 1939 vol 353 cc1435-6W
Captain Cobb

asked the Home Secretary whether there has been an increase in crime in the Metropolitan Police district since the lighting restrictions were imposed?

Sir J. Anderson

No, Sir. I am glad to say that up to the end of October there had been a substantial decrease. The figures of indictable offences known to the Metropolitan Police in the two months September and October, 1939, and in the two months September and October, 1938, show that the total number of crimes.— most of which were small thefts—was 12,283 in 1939 as against 16,023 in 1938. Cases of breaking and entering fell from 2,171 in 1938 to 1,503 in 1939. Robberies or attempted robberies with violence numbered 28 in 1938 and nine in 1939. Cases of bag snatching numbered 66 in 1938 and 53 in 1939. The only crimes in which there was a marked increase are thefts of bicycles, which rose from 2,001 in 1938 to 2,621 in 1939.

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