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Appendix 2

Safer Maidstone Partnership

The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership for Maidstone

Sarah Robson, Community Partnerships Manager

October 2014

Quarter 1 (April-June 2014) Crime Briefing

Please note: All data is sourced from the Kent Connects Safer Communities Portal.  Unless stated otherwise all data relate to the period April to June 2014.  Please note that the police have changed the way they assess performance with targets now based on anticipated crime volumes and a shift in focus from all recorded crime to victim-based crime.  The figures in this briefing unless otherwise stated are for all recorded crime.  In this briefing Kent refers to the twelve local authority district areas and does not include Medway UA.

1.       Kent Districts (excl. Medway) – All crime

Overall, crime in Kent increased by 12.5% in Q1 April to June 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.  This equates to 2,672 additional crimes in the first 3 months of 2014/15 compared to the same period last year, or 29 more crimes per day across Kent.  Part of the increase can be attributable to improved recording methods introduced in 2013/14, and by a greater willingness to report crime, in particular domestic abuse.

2.       Maidstone – All crime

In Maidstone, all crime rose by 8.5% from a total of 2,172 crimes in the 3 month period April - June 2013 to 2,357 in the same period in 2014, an extra 185 crimes or 2 crimes per day.

Victim-based crime in Maidstone rose in the first quarter of 2014/15 compared with the same period in 2013 by 7.5%, or 144 crimes (1.6 more crimes per day), whilst non-victim based crime (classified as drug offences, possession of weapons, public order offences), rose by 18.4%% or 38 more crimes in the 3 month period.

The largest % rise was recorded for sexual offences up from 32 in the period April to June 2013 to 57 in 2014 – a rise of 78%.  Other large rises were recorded for robbery (+45.5%), theft of pedal cycles (+47.6%) and theft from motor vehicles (+41%).  However, the largest rise in numerical terms was for Violence Against the Person (VAP), which rose from 495 recorded incidents in the period April to June 2013 to 596 in the same period 2014, a rise of 20.4%.

3.       Ward level summary

The majority of Maidstone wards (15 out of 26, or 58%), experienced increases in victim based crime over the period April to June 2014, compared with the same period in 2013. 

The Wards which experienced the largest % rises in victim based crime over the period April to June 2014, compared with the same period in 2013, were Harrietsham & Lenham (from 35 to 77 crimes or +120.0%), Loose (from 8 to 15 crimes +87.5%), and Heath (from 53 to 87 crimes +64.1%).  High Street ward experienced a rise of 90 crimes over the period April to June 2014, compared with the same period in 2013, an increase of 19.4%, although anti-social behaviour fell slightly by 1%.

Against these rises, there were notable decreases in victim based recorded crime in the following wards:

·       Coxheath & Hunton – down 95.5%

·       Leeds – down 91.6%

·       Park Wood – down 6.0%

·       Shepway North – down 24.1%

·       Shepway South – down 53.5%

4.       Outcomes – Victim based crime only (excl. Medway)

The table below shows the proportions of victim based crime, which result in a disposal or outcome.  It compares Q1 2014/125 with Q1 in 2013/14 and Maidstone to the other 11 Kent Districts and shows that the percentage of victim-based crimes committed in Maidstone which result in an outcome is higher in terms of charges and cautions than the Kent average:

5.    Anti-social Behaviour April to June Q1 2010/11 to 2014/15, KCC including Medway and MBC

The number of antisocial behaviour incidents recorded in Maidstone in the first quarter (April to June) this year has risen marginally by 2.2% from 992 reports in the first quarter 2013, to 1,014 in the same period this year.

There were large rises in Heath, South and Bearstead Wards - although numbers remain small - but reductions in Boxley, Staplehurst, Sutton Valence, Park Wood (-41%) Shepway North (-17.6%) and Shepway South (-100%) and Loose (-100%) wards.  The rise in ASB reports in Maidstone contrasts with the small fall recorded across the County of 1.9%.  However, ASB in Maidstone is 45% lower than it was 5 years ago.

6.    Road Safety: Killed or Seriously Injured in road traffic collisions, Total and Children aged under 16 yrs April to June Q1 2011/12 to 2013/14, KCC including Medway and MBC

7.    Domestic Abuse incidents, repeat victims, % repeat victims, April to June Q1 2010/11 to 2014/15, KCC including Medway and MBC

Strategic Assessment Comparisons

The table below is from the 2014 Strategic Assessment and shows (in the last column) our county rank crimes per 1,000 population out of 12 districts.  The arrows indicate whether the rank is higher or lower than the previous year.  Please note although there was a 6.5% fall in crime 2012/13, crime rose in 2013/14 by 10.6% (an additional 877 crimes) and continues to rise in the first quarter this year.

Annual changes - 3 year time series