Wiltshire bucks the national trend as reported crime shows decrease

Crime in Wiltshire is down – according to the latest ONS (Office of National Statistics) data just released (18 July).  Wiltshire Police is one of a few forces nationwide where the number of overall reported crimes has fallen.

Angus Macpherson, Wiltshire and Swindon’s Police and Crime Commissioner welcomed the latest figures and said the day to day crimes which people often experience are being dealt with effectively by this comparatively small, rural force where the staff and officers work hard to deliver the best service possible within the funding given.

“As we know, Wiltshire is a safe county and I am pleased to see these latest figures highlight the on-going work being done by this Force to continually prevent crime and protect our communities”  he said, adding:  “Our improved recording practices, which Wiltshire Police has been focusing on 18 months ahead of most other forces, has helped with the accuracy of these figures.”  

For the period March 2018 and March 2019, burglaries and vehicle crime dropped by 23 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.  ”In the last set of ONS statistics, burglary and vehicle crime had dropped and it is heartening to see that this continues – a result of me challenging the Chief Constable and his team on the improvement on burglary and vehicle crime numbers” he noted, pointing out that:  “This type of scrutiny from me and my office is crucial to ensure Wiltshire Police continues to deliver for the communities it serves.”

Although the figures were positive overall, some categories of crime did increase, recorded robbery by 7 per cent in 2019 compared to the 2018 figure (still positive against the national overall increase of 11%).  Crimes involving a knife were stable for Wiltshire year on year compared to a national increase of eight per cent for this quarter.