Crime costs each of us £275 a year

By JAMES CHAPMAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL Updated:

policeman

Crime costs the country £15billion a year

Crime costs the country £15billion a year or £275 per person, according to a study published today.

Violence against the person, such as murder and assault, carries the highest costs, at £155 per person.

Overall, residents in Nottinghamshire suffered the highest cost of crime, at £390 each, followed by London at £388 and Humberside at £380.

It was lowest in predominantly rural areas, the Taxpayers' Alliance pressure group found.

Crime cost £130 per person in North Yorkshire, £186 in Dyfed Powys and £194 in Surrey.

Campaigners blamed the high costs on too much bureaucracy hampering officers' work.

Matthew Sinclair, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'The problem is that politicians in Whitehall insist on micro-managing the police.'

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'It confirms what we have been saying for some time – that we need urgent action to slash unnecessary paperwork to get officers back on the streets.'

The researchers used Freedom of Information laws to compare the number of different crimes in each police force area in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with Home Office estimates of the cost of each type of crime.

This is calculated by a number of factors including the cost of property stolen and damaged, lost economic output, services for victims, and the cost to the criminal justice system.

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