Wiltshire knife crime rise ‘extremely concerning’, says PCC
Knife crime has gone up in Wiltshire more than the rest of the South West
Statistics showing Wiltshire has the biggest rise in knife crime across the South West are ‘extremely concerning’ according to Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson.
But, he says has every confidence in Chief Constable Catherine Roper’s plans to tackle it.
Numbers from the Office of National Statistics show that Wiltshire recorded a 14% rise in knife-related crimes in 2022.
PCC Philip Wilkinson said:
“Over the last year, we have seen a number of cases in Wiltshire involving knives. With the seeming regularity of these types of crimes occurring in our communities, it is abundantly clear it is an extremely concerning trend that needs tackling now.”
“While this report shows an increase in reported crime in Wiltshire, the important statistics as far as I’m concerned are the number of arrests and charges being made by Wiltshire Police and the subsequent successful prosecutions we see from the CPS.
"These are the figures which will give more people the confidence to report crime in the future because, like me, they want to see results and positive outcomes."
The overall statistics have shown a rise in violent and sexual crimes in 2022, while drug offences are down.
Mr Wilkinson said:
“At the start of my tenure as PCC, I said that I felt crime was being under-reported in Wiltshire.
“I strongly believe that as we see the work towards addressing the priorities of my Police and Crime Plan and the work of the Chief Constable and her leadership team begin to bear fruit, my initial fears and concerns will be allayed.”