Crime Rate Website Launched

Yesterday saw the launch of the police crime maps site, enabling you to check the crime levels in your area. This follows on from the site that Wiltshire Police ran, but this site goes into more detail and allows you to check how safe your street is. The site was so popular when it launched yesterday, there was many cases of the site crashing, restricting people from being able to view the site.

According to the BBC, visitors to the website, which cost £300,000 to develop, will be able to find out which crimes have taken place on or near their street within the past month and which officers are responsible for their area. So how did Trowbridge fare in December 2010 with crime and ASB?

In the month of December, there were a total of 276 reports of crime and ASB. These break down into the following.

• Burglary (Includes offences where a person enters a house or other building with the intention of stealing) – 15 incidents.

• Anti-social Behaviour (Includes all reported incidents of anti-social behaviour) – 152 incidents.

• Robbery (Includes offences where a person uses force or threat of force to steal) – 3 incidents.

• Vehicle Crime (Includes theft from or of a vehicle or interference with a vehicle) – 16 incidents.

• Violent Crime (Includes offences against a person including common assault, harassment and grievous bodily harm) – 26 incidents.

• Other Crime (All other crime reported to the police, including criminal damage, shoplifting and drug offences) – 64 incidents.

The main problem in Trowbridge seems to be anti-social behaviour. Although this is spread throughout Trowbridge, there are a lot of cases in Park Road and Fore Street – central Trowbridge. Those crimes ranked as ‘other crimes’ are next on the list for Trowbridge. Although again they are spread right out, Fore Street again ranks highly on the list for the amount of crimes.

If you narrow the search down, you will find areas such as Church Street experienced burglary, anti-social behaviour, vehicle crime, violent crime and other crimes on December. Fore Street was also the victim of anti-social behaviour, robbery, violent crime and other crimes in the month of December. Other areas which register with more than two different types of crime are Stallard Street, Silver Street, Polebarn Road, Newtown, Longfield Road, Hill Street, Henderson Close, Frome Road, and Francis Street. The results show that it is central Trowbridge which is the worst affected by crime, but other areas around Trowbridge are affected by crime.

Have you checked the crime rates in your area? Does seeing the crime rates in your area worry you?