Crime in Guernsey has risen by 12% in the last year.

The Annual Police Report for 2009 shows a massive increase in burglaries and shoplifting. It also highlights a rise in computer crime.

Last year the number of cases reported to the force rose by just over 300 to almost 3,000. That's an increase of 12%. It's burglaries that have played a big part in that overall rise, with last year seeing more than 130 cases.

And shoplifting figures have also nearly doubled, they're up 92%. Police say that's partly down to people reporting more crimes but it's not the only reason.

Guernsey Police Chief Officer George Le Page said: "Certainly last year I did warn that with the economic downturn we were likely to see criminality increasing. Particularly in the retail trade and on attacks on premises. That was reflected."

Another area that's causing more problems for police is computer crime. Worryingly, last year police investigated 17 cases of people possessing indecent images of children. But there was some good news for police with slight drops in numbers of common assaults and criminal damage.

Overall more than 2000 of cases being investigated by police last year were still being worked on in January this year. But officers say they've not given up on solving the crimes.

Mr Le Page said: "The fact that they're outstanding means they are still under some form of investigation. If new information becomes available we will follow up the leads in relation to those and as the year progresses we do see clear-ups from crimes committed last year being included in this year's work."

Whilst many of last year's cases are still ongoing, one person who won't be dealing with them is the Chief Officer. Mr Le Page retires at the end of this week, making way for a new top cop and perhaps a new era for policing in Guernsey.