Crime stats should not shift focus from victims

Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg insists that persuading victims to report crime is far more important than presenting lower crime figures after the latest round of crime figures were released by the Office of National Statistics.

The figures confirmed that, while Devon and Cornwall has one of the lowest rates for serious acquisitive crime, the peninsula has high levels of reported of violent and sexual crime.

Residents here are at a low risk of domestic burglary or vehicle crime but the Force ranks sixth highest overall for violent crime and sexual offences, and the highest for public order.

“These headline figures can only tell part of the story about crime and safety in Devon and Cornwall.  I pay tribute to the good work done by police officers and staff to target offenders and protect victims and their property,” said Mr Hogg.

“But I remain concerned at the relatively high rate of violent crime and public order offences which I am certain is intrinsically linked to alcohol misuse.

“On the positive side what these figures do show is that police are taking action against those who commit such crimes. Offenders are getting arrested and I am encouraged that this is not an area where such behaviour is tolerated.

“Many people will be aware that my Police and Crime Plan focuses on alcohol-related crime and harm because I believe this is a significant driver of violent crime. That is one of the reasons why I have written to the leaders of all the major political parties on minimum unit pricing and continue to lobby on alcohol issues.

“As a result my office has set up a performance management framework that requires the Chief Constable to deliver a transformational change in this area and we continue to work with the police and other partners to support his delivery of this aspiration.”

Mr Hogg’s other main concern is the high rate of reported sexual offences  and has introduced new measures to judge Force performance so there is greater focus on encouraging victims to come forward and report this type of crime - national evidence suggest that as many as 80 per cent remain unreported.

Dr Karen Vincent, the OPCC performance manager, said: ““The ONS data includes such offences and specifically does not show domestic abuse offences separately. In our view this data would be more useful if the number of domestic abuse crimes recorded by each police force was also reported.

“We believe that one of the reasons the Force has high recorded rates of violence and sexual offences is that recorded crime in this area is in part being driven by increases in recorded domestic abuse.

“But without an understanding of how increases in reporting of domestic abuse here compares to other Force areas we cannot be certain this is a significant driver of our national position. We continue to work with the police and other partner agencies to develop our understanding of this, one of the most disturbing and life-changing victim-based offence categories.”