POLICE must focus on catching burglars and violent offenders over dealing with hate crime, Dorset’s police and crime commissioner says.

Martyn Underhill has backed a warning from National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) chair Sara Thornton that forces are too stretched to take on all “desirable and deserving” issues, such as logging misogyny reports even when no offence has been committed.

Opening a joint conference hosted by the NPCC and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Ms Thornton said core policing is “seriously stretched”.

She said: “We are asked to provide more and more bespoke services that are all desirable - but the simple fact is there are too many desirable and deserving issues. For example, treating misogyny as a hate crime is a concern for some well-organised campaigning organisations.”

She said police need to “solve more burglaries and bear down on violence” instead of “making more records of incidents that are not crimes”.

Mr Underhill, who has attended the conference, said: “With a reducing budget and workforce, policing does not have the resources to tackle absolutely everything.

“Police are operating in an environment where budgets are being squeezed, at a time when we are seeing demand continue to increase. The police must prioritise the more serious crimes and allocate resources based not just on local need, but on a basis of threat, risk and harm.

“Worryingly, the increase in crime includes a national increase in violent crime and it is right that tackling this should be given a higher priority than less serious offences.”

As reported in the Daily Echo last month, a surge in serious crimes has been recorded in the county. Violent crime which results in an injury has increased by 21 per cent, while robbery is up by 23 per cent, and sexual offences are up 16 per cent.

Mr Underhill said: “Fortunately, we do not experience the levels of violent crime that other parts of the country do, and although hate crime is taken seriously in Dorset, our residents would undoubtedly expect the police to prioritise criminal offences and respond accordingly.”