Cheshire Constabulary sees lowest rise in crime across England and Wales

Figures released on 26 January 2023 by the Office of National Statistics show that Cheshire saw the lowest increase in crime across England and Wales between October 2021 and September 2022.

Cheshire Constabulary has seen an increase of 1.4 per cent in overall crime recorded during this period, well below the national increase of 12.4 per cent.

Offences linked to theft from the person (40 per cent), and possession of an offensive weapon (44 per cent) accounting for some of the largest increases.

The statistics show the force has seen smaller increases in reports of sexual offences (13 per cent) and violence with injury offences (10 per cent)

However, other offences such as stalking and harassment decreased by 6.1 per cent.

There were also notable decreases in other areas such as drugs trafficking (-48.5 per cent), burglary (-2.4 per cent) with residential burglary decreasing by 5.2 per cent, and robbery (-3 per cent).

Deputy Chief Constable Chris Armitt said:

“It’s clear that any increase in reported crime is not ok, but we must look comparatively at the data that shows Cheshire is well below national average.

“As part of our continued our effort to crackdown on offenders coming into Cheshire, we are working closely with our neighbouring forces to catch those responsible and make Cheshire an even more hostile environment for criminals.

“We are already seeing positive results from this approach, with a significant decrease in the number of drugs of drugs and drug trafficking offences, as well as a fall in the number of residential burglaries across the county.

“However, we will continue to do more and our commitment in preventing crime, catching criminals and educating our communities in crime prevention remains our uppermost priority.

“I understand that the rise in possession of offensive weapons may cause concern, however, this is in part due to our diligent use stop and search, and information from the public, which has resulted in an increasing number of weapons being removed from our streets.

“Violence against women and girls also remains a priority for the force, and while we have seen a small rise, we hope that our continued support and investment in a range of innovative technology to enhance the services that we provide is going some way to making our communities safer for women.

“An example of this is how we are the first force in the North West to roll out the GoodSAM Instant Help platform which allows anyone who calls 999 to live stream from their phone to call operators in our Force Control Centre. This intuitive kit will help us to support all victims by enabling police to capture real-time evidence which can be used in court.

“The force has also recently launched the new online reporting form for victims of rape, sexual assault and harassment.

“This is also supported by the mobile digital forensic unit which will enable officers to extract data from digital devices – along with data extraction kiosks at each Local Policing Unit.”

DCC Armitt concluded:

“The message is clear - we will do everything possible to make Cheshire a hostile place for criminals and I want the public to know that we will do all we can to bring perpetrators to justice, continuing with our commitment to keep the residents of Cheshire safe.”

If you are a victim of crime you can report it via the Cheshire Constabulary website. In an emergency dial 999.