Drop in burglaries and vehicle crime in Lincolnshire

Figures from the Office of National Statistics for the year up to June 2019 show that domestic burglaries in the county have dropped by six per cent when compared to last year, bucking the national drop of five per cent.

The numbers of recorded vehicle offences have dropped by five per cent, while the national picture shows a rise of three per cent.

Temporary Chief Constable Jason Harwin said: “It’s encouraging to see drops in both burglaries and vehicle offences because these relate to people’s homes and often cars – things that we rely on, spend money on, and are related to our feelings of comfort and security and independence.

“However, I am well aware that many of the other areas show an increase in recorded crime and that’s something we, as a service and with partners, are working hard to understand and address.

“We don’t just see the numbers but we see the victims who have been affected by crime. It’s crucial that we provide each and every victim with the service they deserve.

“When I look at the people behind the figures, this year we have 31,000 people who have reported one or more crimes to us. That figure is too high, working with my colleagues both in the force and partners, we must bring that figure down.”

Nationally, the statistics show rises in the numbers of violent crimes, possession of weapons offences, and sexual offences – the same picture is presented locally in Lincolnshire.

Mr Harwin continued: “The increase in serious offences is concerning, not just to me but to every other Chief Officer and law enforcement agency throughout England and Wales because the increase is a national one, and extensive work is underway to try and understand and tackle the issues.

“Our officers are dealing with complex crimes, safeguarding issues and working to protect vulnerable people, as well as ‘hidden’ offences in the digital world. Policing has never experienced more demand yet had more limited resources.

“Better reporting mechanisms can explain some of the increase, here in Lincolnshire we have tightened our recording practices meaning we are recording more offences, but it doesn’t explain it all away. There have been genuine rises in some of the areas we have seen in the county such as weapons offences and robberies.

"Over the last 12 months we have seen an average of six robberies against individuals a week and an average of one robbery a week against businesses, a total of 352 offences across the year (300/53).

"We are working hard with partners to try to understand where these increases have come from and how we can prevent them. While it is up to us as a police force to enforce the law and protect people, we also ensure we work with partners to see if we can prevent offending before it even happens. That is, are these offences due to lifestyle or social issues, or some other influence, and can we help to address them? There is ongoing conversation around those areas.

“We make sure we use our police resources well. We have recently had confirmation from central Government that we will receive funding for 50 extra officers and we will make sure we place them in areas where there is the most need. We have ongoing work to understand our demand and where the biggest threats are in the county and we will make sure we place our people in those areas – either physically or devoted to certain types of crime.

“Also, our technology helps bolster our less-than-ample resources. We have made investments in our tech to ensure our officers are out in the communities where they serve for as long as possible without the need to return to a station to complete paperwork, for example, and we will continue to balance demand against our available resources.

“In short, we are working hard to address and tackle these rises. We know that serious crime is a concern to people in Lincolnshire and while we have seen rises that does not mean we are not a safe county in which to live and work, and we will continue make sure that is the case.”