Chief Constable tells the PCC that crime in Kent is down 10.6% in four years

28^th May 2025

Chief Constable tells the PCC that crime in Kent is down 10.6% in four years.

Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott has held his quarterly Performance and Delivery Board with the Chief Constable of Kent Police, Tim Smith.  It reviewed the PCC’s “Making Kent Safer” Police and Crime Plan, and the crime data showed very encouraging improvements.

Over the period April 2021 to March 2025:

All crime has fallen by 10.6% (19,000 fewer offences). Burglary of people’s homes is down 26.8% (939 fewer offences); violent crime has fallen by 17.9% or 16,331 offences; knife crime fell by 16.1% and reports of hate crime decreased by 22.8% or 1,129 offences. Antisocial behaviour fell by 52.3%, from a Covid related high of 56,915 to 27,131.

Matthew Scott said,

“I am very pleased with the progress made over the period of my plan. This is tremendous news for the people of Kent. From antisocial behaviour to violent crime, the force has made considerable improvements and I’m confident they’ll continue to do so. Call handling has also been transformed: in April 2021 we were ranked 27^th in the country for 999 wait times, now we are the second best in the country”.

The Chief Constable of Kent Police, Tim Smith said,

“All crime and victim-based crime is down over 10% in this period. There is a clear focus, not just on reducing crime, but solving crime, bringing offenders to justice and supporting victims. There are increases in the rate of which we are arresting, interviewing and finding appropriate outcomes for suspects”.

Matthew Scott specifically asked the force to focus on reducing violence against women and girls in his Making Kent Safer Police and Crime plan and the figures revealed by the Chief Constable suggest improved reporting and that support systems are working. Rape offences have fallen by 15.5% or 366 over the period and charge rates also increased. There has also been a 27.4% decrease in Domestic Abuse offences since April 2021.

Shoplifting offences have increased by 55.1% since April 2021. Whilst this reflects a national trend in the rise of shoplifting, both Matthew Scott and the force are taking measures to tackle this and retail crime. The Force’s new Neighbourhood policing Model and the investment from the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will increase focus on town centre policing. While shoplifting offences have increased, the charge rate has also risen to 69.5% and the number of suspects interviewed has also increased by 63.8% in the same period. The PCC will address this increase through his retail crime board, bringing together relevant groups to build effective partnerships to tackle retail crime together

Not only are fewer crimes being reported, but the Force is arresting more offenders and solving more crimes too. 8.8% more suspects were arrested and interviewed (3,710 more people), and the solved rate increased by 2.9%.

Call handling has improved dramatically. In April 2021-March 2022, only 66.7% of 999 calls were being picked up within ten seconds. Now 96.6% of them are and the average wait is just 3 seconds. The wait for 101 calls to be answered has also fallen sharply: in April 2021-March 2022 the average wait was 4 minutes, now it is 31 seconds.

Matthew Scott’s new Police and Crime Plan is called “Cut Crime, Support Victims, Build Trust”. The Chief Constable has now been tasked with delivering the priorities set out in that. It can be found on our website: Cut Crime, Support Victims, Build Trust

ENDS

Note to editors: You can find more figures in the Making Kent Safer section of the Performance and Delivery Board, 28^th May meeting on our website.

Performance and Delivery Board

The table below shows the four years’ difference in the levels of recorded crime: