PCC encourages people in Swindon and Wiltshire to keep reporting crimes
The county has the country’s lowest reported crime rate
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon is calling on victims and witnesses to continue reporting crimes.
Latest figures from the Office of National Statistics have revealed that Wiltshire remains to have the lowest overall reported crime rate in the country.
In 2024, the total number of recorded crimes fell from 41,903 to 39,627 compared to the previous year – that is a decrease of 5.6%.
PCC Philip Wilkinson said: “While I am pleased to see the latest figures are beginning to reflect the improvements being made within force - I also would like to encourage our residents to continue to report all crimes from across our communities.
“Wiltshire Police is continuing to work hard to build trust and confidence with all communities but we know we see under-reporting of several different crime types for a variety of reasons, including victims who think they won’t be believed or because the justice system takes too long to bring people to court or because residents think the punishments being handed out are too lenient. I am working with our partners, commissioned services and those within the criminal justice system to try and end this cycle.”
'Still a long way to go'
Areas in which reporting increased over the last year include drugs (+10.8%) and miscellaneous (+13.2%).
While sexual offences were also reported more often (+7.7%), Wiltshire is still the force with the lowest rate of reports in this area in the South West.
“People also tell me that they don’t always report rural crime or business and retail crime because the method used to report it does not make it easy for them. My office is working with farmers, with businesses and retailers to try and change this too.
“I am acutely aware there is still a long way to go, and we must continue to work closely with partners across the criminal justice system to ensure the necessary preventative measures are in place, that we make it as easy as we can to report crime, as well as ensuring all victims of crime are supported and receiving the best possible service”, added PCC Wilkinson.
“As a result, I have continued to invest into victims' services for this reason. We know that crime cannot be eradicated completely so we must ensure the services my office are funding are delivering for victims when they need it most, regardless of whether they’ve chosen to report a crime to the police.”
Of the over 2,000 fewer crimes that were recorded in Wiltshire over the last year, the biggest part were robberies (-29.6%), possession of weapons (-13%) and theft (-10.4%).
The number of burglaries, public orders and crimes relating to violence against the person decreased as well.
The Office of National Statistics has previously named Wiltshire and Swindon the safest places to live as their overall crime rate of 52.8 crimes per 1,000 people is the lowest in the country.