Crime rose slightly in 2014, a fact police attributed to protests, which diverted their attention away from other matters, a police spokesman said yesterday.

“We noted that instances of crime in 2014 increased slightly compared to 2013,” said Kirt Chantharith, spokesman for the National Police. “Most of the offences were misdemeanour theft, [snatching things], but in felony, robbery and murder in particular decreased.”

Police handled 2,814 offences, up 96 from the year before. Of these offences, 716 were felony cases – down 74 from the previous year, according to crime statistics posted on the National Police’s website.The figures also showed that 3,076 people were arrested.

Though Chantharith blamed protests for distracting police from their usual duties, statistics released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Labour showed that labour-related demonstrations in 2014 actually dropped 34 per cent from 2013.