THE number of crimes being committed at Bradford’s schools has been on the rise in the past three years, with an average of four crimes being committed every school day in the last year.

In the financial year 2017/18, there were 824 crimes recorded at Bradford’s schools, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.

This was a rise from 744 in 2016/17, and 41 per cent higher than the 2015/16 figure of 583. 

With children being in school for 190 days a year, this means on average 4.3 crimes were being committed in the district every school day in the past year.

The most common crime at schools was violence against the person. The number more than doubled from 2015/16 to 2017/18, rising from 122 to 281.

The second most common crime was burglary, although the number of burglaries committed has dropped since 2015/16, as has the number of thefts, which was the fourth most common crime.

The third most regular offence was arson and criminal damage, up from 95 in 2015/16 to 118. Public order offences have rocketed up by 500 per cent, from 18 to 90, and sexual offences have also been on the increase.

A number of crimes such as possession of weapons, vehicle crime and drug offences have risen compared to 2015/16, but were lower in 2017/18 than in the previous year.

The crimes cover offences committed in a school location, and not all offences may have taken place inside the school or involved students or staff.

In December iPads were stolen from Crossflatts Primary School and Foxhill Primary School in separate attacks.

Foxhill Primary, in Queensbury, said this was the third time burglars had targeted the school in two years, and the theft and damage caused had been “traumatic for the school”.

West Yorkshire Police said the number of crimes committed in schools may in fact be even higher, but that some low level crimes are dealt with in schools rather than involving the police.

A police spokesperson said: “There may be additional offences whereby the location qualifier has not been used as such they are not captured within this response.

“Low level offences may be dealt with locally with schools without being reported to the police or via our Safer Schools Officers.

“West Yorkshire Police works closely with schools in Bradford District through its Safer Schools Partnership and we have dedicated Safer Schools Officers in more than a third of our secondary schools.

“Their roles are tailored to the different needs of the schools but their primary focus is on early intervention, building positive relationships with pupils to help them be safe and feel safe.

“As part of this work PCSOs are working with primary schools to make children familiar with the police and give them the confidence to engage with officers from a young age.

“The Force recently supported the national knife crime initiative ‘Operation Sceptre’ and in Bradford District more than 800 young people received knife crime awareness training from police officers and PCSOs in a range of educational settings.

“The partnership has seen members of the Force, usually police officers, but in some cases PCSOs, fulfil their operational duties in a school-based environment as a resident member of staff.

“The partnership has involved schools contributing a certain percentage of an officer’s/PCSO’s salary in return for their work in the school. The precise percentage has varied from school to school.

“It also determines the percentage of time they spend at the school, so a 20 per cent contribution may mean that an officer spends one day a week at the school.

“Anyone under the age of criminal responsibility - ten-years-old - cannot be culpable for a crime, but in view of West Yorkshire Police taking a victim centred approach we would ordinarily record a crime in accordance with the National Crime Recording Standards and either leave it undetected or it would be reclassified as a ’No Crime’.

“If knowingly a person is under the age of criminal responsibility we would not necessarily arrest or detain them.”

Councillor Imran Khan, executive member for education, employment and skills, said every school in Bradford have contact with a Safer School officer for at least half a day every week, and that Bradford Council is working with police and schools to try and reduce crime.

Cllr Khan said: “Any crime in school is one too many and while it’s good that figures for some crimes have come down, we all need to support the police, schools and voluntary sector partners in doing more to tackle crime in schools.

“Safer School officers from West Yorkshire Police work in schools throughout the week.

“They work with school pupils on a range of issues including sessions educating them on the dangers of crime.

“All Bradford schools have access to a Safer School officer for at least half a day each week.

“We will continue to work closely in partnership with the police and schools to combat crime.”