Police say people are unduly worried about crime in one of safest counties in UK

7:20pm Saturday 18th August 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Ben Wilkinson, Crime Reporter. Call me on (01865) 425427

Colin Paine Colin Paine

RESIDENTS are still “unduly worried” about crime, despite a drop in offending across Oxfordshire, according to a senior police officer.

Figures released by Thames Valley Police show crime has fallen by up to 18 per cent across the county.

The statistics are from April 1 to July 31 and are compared to the same four -month period last year.

Although crime overall is down, a number of offences saw increases in certain parts of the county, in particular sex crimes.

Serious sexual offences in the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire rose by 26 per cent from 27 to 34, with rape reports rising from 11 to 15, a hike of 36 per cent.

And only one in 10 of these resulted in a charge, caution or convictrion which means South and Vale district police have missed their target of one in three.

Overall crime in South and Vale is down though, by 18 per cent, from 3,766 offences last year to 3,091 this year.

More of these offences are being dealt with successfully, with a rise in detection rate – crimes that result in a caution, charge or conviction – from 24 per cent to 26 per cent. In West Oxfordshire, the total number of offences fell by 12 per cent, from 1,461 crimes committed to 1,290.

Detections also rose slightly from 25 to 26 per cent.

Chief Inspector Colin Paine, area commander for the district, said: “It’s early days, but overall I am pleased.

“Although this really is one of the safest places to live in England, some people remain unduly worried about crime.

“I hope these figures will go some way to reassure them.”

But there have been slight rises in burglary, violence against the person with injury, and assault without injury. Domestic burglaries have gone up from 33 to 36, violence against the person from 123 to 132, and assault without injury rose from 87 to 95.

Mr Paine added: “We’ve had three more burglaries than this time last year. To be fair, last year was the lowest level of burglaries on record.”

He also said it was important residents reported suspicious activity to keep crime down.

And in Cherwell all crime fell also by 12 per cent, from 2,901 offences to 2,563.

Detection rates have gone up more significantly, rising from 26 to 34 per cent.

But Philip Walker, who in April fought off armed raiders from his Didcot home, said he did not believe the statistics.

The 53-year-old said: “It hasn’t gone down. It’s ripe in Didcot.”

Andy Viney, secretary of Thames Valley Police Federation, said last year the force cut about 100 police officers across the Thames Valley region and further cuts were expected.

He said: “These figures are to be celebrated. It shows how hard working the officers are in both the prevention and detection of crime. But with the austerity challenges we shouldn’t be complacent as these figures could easily rise as the effects of the cuts start to bite.”

Last week the Oxford Mail reported how crime in Oxford had fallen 15 per cent from 6,087 to 5,175 during the same period.

Domestic burglaries had fallen 26 per cent, with police saying they had locked up offenders and targeted the drug dealers fuelling the problem.

Carterton resident Cara Langstaff, whose 13-year-old son Thomas had his bike handlebars stolen last year, said: “I don’t feel uncomfortable safety wise but you do have to look after your property.”

The 37-year-old added: “Even when my bikes are locked up I feel uncomfortable.”

  • Street-by-street crime statistics are available at oxfordmail.co.uk/li

Comments(32)

Feelingsmatter says...
9:24pm Sat 18 Aug 12

Unduly worried? How can you be assaulted without injury? There are lies, **** lies and statistics ...............

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Additional information says...
10:37pm Sat 18 Aug 12

The figures are totally deceiving because as Thames Valley Police well know there are less crimes being reported to them and the reason is simply because the public know that there is no point as nothing will be done by the local police! It is noe because there has been less crime commited!
This is very crafty and deceipful of Thames Valley Police to manupulate the figures in this way.
Obviously they are once again attempting to misguide the local public...shame on them!

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Geoff Roberts says...
11:38pm Sat 18 Aug 12

"How can you be assaulted without injury?"

Easily. I could punch you in the forehead without injuring you. You wouldn't like it though.

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Phian says...
4:31am Sun 19 Aug 12

Feelingsmatter wrote:
Unduly worried? How can you be assaulted without injury? There are lies, **** lies and statistics ...............
An assault is an act by which a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend immediate and unlawful personal violence so one does not have to actually strike someone, just make them fear you will. If you do actually hit therm, it is termed "battery" so one would be charged (sorry, couldn't resist)

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Lord Palmerstone says...
9:21am Sun 19 Aug 12

"Serious sexual offences in the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire rose by 26 per cent from 27 to 34, with rape reports rising from 11 to 15, a hike of 36 per cent.

And only one in 10 of these resulted in a charge, caution or convictrion which means South and Vale district police have missed their target of one in three."
Who gave them a "target"? Our very unpleasant State. Despite The decency displayed by Brits like the Olympic volunteers we do now have a deeply unattractice state.
If burglaries of peoples' homes has increased then we are all entitled to be fearful.
Inarticulate people with unsatisfactory relationships, young drunken males beating each other,spurious claims of sexual misdemeanours made by the intoxicated, these things keep few awake at night. Burglaries do keep us awake.

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nafnlaus says...
9:32am Sun 19 Aug 12

Phian wrote:
Feelingsmatter wrote:
Unduly worried? How can you be assaulted without injury? There are lies, **** lies and statistics ...............
An assault is an act by which a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to apprehend immediate and unlawful personal violence so one does not have to actually strike someone, just make them fear you will. If you do actually hit therm, it is termed "battery" so one would be charged (sorry, couldn't resist)
The most common assault reported on these pages is ‘Assault by beating’. This is the lowest form of assault dealt with by the police and occurs when some physical event takes place without injury i.e. a push or shove or an injury in law which is less than ABH. (Actual Bodily Harm).

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Cathena says...
9:41am Sun 19 Aug 12

Report all incidents even if you know the police won't do anything;. ask for an incident number for the insurance and they will have to log the report. At least it will show in the statistics even if they don't come to talk to you about it

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Feelingsmatter says...
10:26am Sun 19 Aug 12

Geoff Roberts wrote:
"How can you be assaulted without injury?"

Easily. I could punch you in the forehead without injuring you. You wouldn't like it though.
I would still be injured mentally. And I would probably still have a bit of a bruise, especially if you had bony knuckles.

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Myron Blatz says...
10:41am Sun 19 Aug 12

No gain without Paine? Seems TVP Chief Inspector Paine doesn't bother to read the Oxford Mail very often.

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MrBBump says...
11:00am Sun 19 Aug 12

I can say now that police figures are manipulated by those who protect us. For example - a burglary in your home may be altered to a theft if it could be gotten away with. This type of figure fiddling is common practice nowadays to show / tell you that all is above board and getting better. It's not. Less police officers on the streets, more unemployment leading to desperate acts of criminality to survive doesn't mean the numbers are going to look better, they're going to look far worse! How do I know this? Because my partner is a police officer and if you heard some of the stories I hear you'd be ashamed, just like me! Can't wait till the local commissioners comem in and sort out this mess!

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pjpj says...
11:28am Sun 19 Aug 12

Unfortunately those responsible believe it is ok to manipulate figures i.e. Police, Central and Local government, it is nothing less than scandalous lies hidden behind the manpulated statisics in order to make those in power look better and to justify their jobs. We are now living in a society where we can no longer believe anything coming from anyone in a positiuon of authority.

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John Lamb says...
2:41pm Sun 19 Aug 12

I think crime must have dipped to a low level at some point as TVP resorted to shooting each other to up the figures.

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pjpj says...
4:46pm Sun 19 Aug 12

John Lamb wrote:
I think crime must have dipped to a low level at some point as TVP resorted to shooting each other to up the figures.
Ha! Ha! Yeah The investigation into that probably culminated in a few thousand hours overtime.

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BeverleyAnne says...
6:55pm Sun 19 Aug 12

From personal experience, don't bother reporting being assaulted, nothing will be done, you'll get no updates, assurances, thats why crime figures are low, because people are losing all faith in the police.

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Man on the Green says...
9:16pm Sun 19 Aug 12

It's hard to conceive of circumstances in which an admitted rape could justifiably be dealt with by way of a caution.

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Feelingsmatter says...
10:05pm Sun 19 Aug 12

Kingston Road Crusader Ox2 6EG wrote:
Man on the Green wrote:
It's hard to conceive of circumstances in which an admitted rape could justifiably be dealt with by way of a caution.
I do not understand where you and others get the idea that an admitted or convicted rape is dealt with a caution. That has never been the case in Oxford.
No, but sex offenders rarely get custodial sentences. There have been a string of paedophiles who have been given non-custodial sentences, including a GP, an RAF mechanic and a teacher. Sex offenders in Oxfordshire can expect to get an easy journey through our judicial system. Many cases have been covered on this site.

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Christine Hovis says...
8:50am Mon 20 Aug 12

I can't see how the fear spreads.

This story appears sandwiched between reports of a murder, affray in Witney and threatening with a knife in a Cowley Road cafe.

Maybe if it wasn't such easy reporting, we would have a very low experience of the very low crime rate.

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Myron Blatz says...
9:56am Mon 20 Aug 12

Wonder if the Chief Constable (you know, the stern-but-nice pre- recorded voice on the call centre when people phone TVP) ever reads the Oxford Mail? If so, she would note an amazing difference of opinion between the what one of her senior police officers believes to be the overall picture of crime in Oxfordshire, crime as reported in the newspaper, and public opinion of both crime statistics and TVP. It's a great shame, because the Police try to do a good job under increasingly difficult times - not helped by the Coaliyion and previous Labour government cut-backs, and a judicial and magistrate system which often not only fails to encourage and support the hard work and efforts of the Police, but society at-large - and if statistics are in any way being 'massaged' this probably has more to do with the meddling at national and local government level.

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xjohnx says...
11:25am Mon 20 Aug 12

There is less crime! No war either! Plenty of international understanding and Fairies at the bottom of the Chief Constables garden.

Oh! and Ian Thomlinson is living in the forests of Brazil.

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xjohnx says...
11:28am Mon 20 Aug 12

John Lamb wrote:
I think crime must have dipped to a low level at some point as TVP resorted to shooting each other to up the figures.
Is that 'John Lamb' the famous Marine Engineer?

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Rachie53 says...
11:55am Tue 21 Aug 12

I can look out of my window every. Night and see anti social behaviour, kids smoking drugs, kids drinking alcohol and criminal damage happening. The amount of reports people have made where I live and yet nothing seems to be getting done. It has got to the point where people won't report this behaviour because nothing seems to be done about it. We have seen youths run away from an approaching police car, which to anyone's standards is suspicious, and the police officers just drive away in the opposite direction. Yes everyone is worried but they have a right to be!

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John Lamb says...
1:31pm Tue 21 Aug 12

I would feel safer if every time I went for a drive I didn't have half a dozen other vehicle drivers nearly take me out. Stupid drivers are multiplying on the roads because there are hardly any traffic officers around to arrest them. The A34, A420 and M40 feel like demolition derby tracks some days. The number of serious incidents is ridiculous.

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locodogz says...
1:34pm Tue 21 Aug 12

"But Philip Walker, who in April fought off armed raiders from his Didcot home, said he did not believe the statistics.

The 53-year-old said: “It hasn’t gone down. It’s ripe in Didcot.”"

Ripe? Did he mean 'rife' or is he a bit of a fruit.......?

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Buffetcrasher says...
2:18pm Tue 21 Aug 12

My son was assaulted and some yobs tried to take his phone back in May; his head was cut and his glasses broken. It was downgraded to assault as they didn't get his phone. Hmmm.

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locodogz says...
4:00pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Buffetcrasher wrote:
My son was assaulted and some yobs tried to take his phone back in May; his head was cut and his glasses broken. It was downgraded to assault as they didn't get his phone. Hmmm.
Sorry I genuinely don't get what you're saying here? You say he was assaulted and the charge was assault? Had they taken the phone presumably it would have been 'robbery with assault' or something similar? How is that a downgraded charge?

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HPG says...
9:40pm Tue 21 Aug 12

Figures are down because the police wont do there jobs.
Friend, punched in head several times walking home, police caught up with us, they know who done it, say they saw it on cctv, is he ok, give us a buisness card and say ring if you wanna make complaint against this guy.....just get on and do your job mr policeman

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Buffetcrasher says...
10:47am Wed 22 Aug 12

locodogz wrote:
Buffetcrasher wrote:
My son was assaulted and some yobs tried to take his phone back in May; his head was cut and his glasses broken. It was downgraded to assault as they didn't get his phone. Hmmm.
Sorry I genuinely don't get what you're saying here? You say he was assaulted and the charge was assault? Had they taken the phone presumably it would have been 'robbery with assault' or something similar? How is that a downgraded charge?
"Assault and robbery" would have been the charge if they'd actually got away with the phone. "Attempted robbery with assault" was the charge we wanted to be recorded as it is a more serious crime and the sentence, had they been caught, would therefore be harsher. The crime was recorded as "assault" which is less serious and looks better on crime statistics. Sorry I was unclear.

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locodogz says...
11:51am Wed 22 Aug 12

Buffetcrasher wrote:
locodogz wrote:
Buffetcrasher wrote:
My son was assaulted and some yobs tried to take his phone back in May; his head was cut and his glasses broken. It was downgraded to assault as they didn't get his phone. Hmmm.
Sorry I genuinely don't get what you're saying here? You say he was assaulted and the charge was assault? Had they taken the phone presumably it would have been 'robbery with assault' or something similar? How is that a downgraded charge?
"Assault and robbery" would have been the charge if they'd actually got away with the phone. "Attempted robbery with assault" was the charge we wanted to be recorded as it is a more serious crime and the sentence, had they been caught, would therefore be harsher. The crime was recorded as "assault" which is less serious and looks better on crime statistics. Sorry I was unclear.
Ah now I understand - did they give any explanation as to why they dropped the "attempted robbery" bit?

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davyboy says...
5:11pm Wed 22 Aug 12

if people are not prepared to report crimes, then it looks good from the figures. as someone already said, report everything, and get a crime number. the Crown Prosecution Service are the ones who decide whether to take further action, and will accept someone admitting a lower charge, just to get a guaranteed conviction, or crime clear up. the police, like the health service, should have no targets to achieve, but treat each offence equally. they seemingly pick on motorists as an easy target, but drivers do not help themselves by speeding and using phones and not belting up.

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Feelingsmatter says...
9:54pm Wed 22 Aug 12

locodogz wrote:
Buffetcrasher wrote:
locodogz wrote:
Buffetcrasher wrote:
My son was assaulted and some yobs tried to take his phone back in May; his head was cut and his glasses broken. It was downgraded to assault as they didn't get his phone. Hmmm.
Sorry I genuinely don't get what you're saying here? You say he was assaulted and the charge was assault? Had they taken the phone presumably it would have been 'robbery with assault' or something similar? How is that a downgraded charge?
"Assault and robbery" would have been the charge if they'd actually got away with the phone. "Attempted robbery with assault" was the charge we wanted to be recorded as it is a more serious crime and the sentence, had they been caught, would therefore be harsher. The crime was recorded as "assault" which is less serious and looks better on crime statistics. Sorry I was unclear.
Ah now I understand - did they give any explanation as to why they dropped the "attempted robbery" bit?
It was better for their statistics! At least they were honest!

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Myron Blatz says...
2:07am Thu 23 Aug 12

..... and yet the sad truth is that despite all our comments on this news item, most people wouldn't want to actually do the jobs which the Police have to face every day - whether it be catching criminals, attending the scene of traffic accidents, dealing with domestic violence, drug peddling, or the loutish and anti-social behaviour of drunken men and women on our streets. Just a thought, but perhaps it might help if Magistrates had to do regular on-job training experience of the sorts of crime and anti-social behaviour which the Police have to try and deal with every day?

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JanetJ says...
6:50pm Thu 23 Aug 12

HPG wrote:
Figures are down because the police wont do there jobs.
Friend, punched in head several times walking home, police caught up with us, they know who done it, say they saw it on cctv, is he ok, give us a buisness card and say ring if you wanna make complaint against this guy.....just get on and do your job mr policeman
So - did he ring?

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