The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Lincolnshire Police have stepped up efforts to kerb rising violent crime.
Violent crime in Lincolnshire accounts for 36 per cent of all recorded crime. The latest crime statistics released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) have shown a 12 per cent national rise in offences of this type.
In Lincolnshire the numbers of recorded violent crime have increased by 74 per cent (from 12,325 to 21,447), the new ONS figures have revealed. Violent crime includes offences that have resulted in injury to the person but also those that have not caused injury, as well as offences such as stalking and harassment, and numbers of killed or seriously injured on the roads.
A police spokesman said: “We know that some of the rise in numbers can be explained by changes in our recording practices… but some of the figures are due to genuine rises in offences.”
Last week Lincolnshire Police launched an initiative aimed at reducing and preventing further offences of this type, focussing on victims, and engaging with partners to reduce harm in our communities.
Assistant Chief Constable Kerrin Wilson explained: “Lincolnshire is still a safe place in which to live and work. The ONS stats show that we’re ranked 19th safest in the country.
“Saying that, I know that the numbers and some of the recent incidents in the county may be of concern to our communities. I want to explain what we’re doing in response to violent crime with our force-wide initiative.
“We have a number of tools available to us to police violent crime, which range from enforcement to measures such as the Stalking Protection Orders which came into being earlier this week, to partnership approaches with other agencies that will enable us to treat the causes of violent crime rather than the symptoms.
“Our focus on offences of this type is aimed at preventing further victims, safeguarding those who have been victims, and bringing offenders to justice. Our victim-centred approach means that we will be putting a spotlight on the journey of a victim and trying our hardest to ensure that those individuals are not subject to any additional trauma. This is from first contact, through to the follow-up work that we do with Victim Lincs and support people are given through the Criminal Justice process, through to our complete engagement with victims.
“We have always policed violent crime but what we are doing now simply consolidates that approach and makes sure our officers and staff have a focus on driving down those numbers, which can only mean driving down the numbers of victims.
“We will regularly be communicating the work of our teams in our communities and force-wide and will be engaging with the public.”
