Published 17 July 2020

Matthew Scott.jpg

Matthew Scott says the recruitment of more police officers, efforts to tackle serious offenders, and investment in prevention initiatives have all played a part in cutting crime in Kent.
 
Today (17 July), the Office of National Statistics published its latest crime statistics. They show a 5% drop in the numbers of crimes Kent Police recorded in 2019/20.
 
This amounts to 9,392 fewer crimes in Kent than in 2018/19. Kent Police's accuracy at recording crime has previously been rated outstanding by the independent inspectorate.
 
Mr Scott, the elected Police and Crime Commissioner, said:

‘This is great news. Behind every crime is a victim, which means nearly 9,400 fewer victims. We are seeing the work of the last few years really bearing fruit.’
 
He continued:

‘Thanks to money raised through local council tax, Kent Police has embarked on a transformational recruitment campaign. We now have around 550 more officers than when I was elected and the force is on course to soon be bigger than it has ever been.
 
‘Some of those officers have joined the Chief Constable’s Crime Squad which has been targeting burglars and violent criminals who seek to do harm in our communities. Hundreds of offenders have been charged and then sent to prison as a result of the Crime Squad’s work.
 
‘At the same time I have been investing money in more educational inputs in schools, more intervention work with young people caught up in county lines, and projects like the Volunteer Police Cadets. Multi-agency work within our Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit and the Medway Task Force is bringing partners together to solve problems on the ground.’
 
Significant headlines to come out of today’s published statistics include:

  • Burglary in Kent is down 13%
  • Knife crime in Kent is down 24%
  • Violence causing injury in Kent is down 7%
  • Stalking and harassment in Kent is down 12%
  • Death by dangerous driving in Kent is down 16%
 
Mr Scott added:
‘It is telling that the very few crime categories showing increases in the last year are offences like possession of drugs and weapons which are discovered and recorded using proactive, intelligence-led community policing.’

The Office of National Statistics noted that today’s figures are largely unaffected by Covid-19 as they mainly relate to the period prior to lockdown (April 2019 to March 2020).