Here is a breakdown of the latest crime data for Wiltshire and a historical comparison. 

Wiltshire Police have data of all the crime incidents that they recorded in August this year with details on the type of crime and the frequency of the crime, as well as the specific location the crime occured. 

This round-up does not include Swindon, Test Valley, New Forest, or any other areas that are not listed as Wiltshire specifically.

Breakdown of the latest Wilsthire crime data for August 2021

In August this year 2850 incidents of crime were reported. 

Violence and sexual offences made up 30% of all crimes registered with 975 cases in August making it the most frequent crime during that month. 

Anti-social behaviour was the second most frequent crime with 804 cases making up 28% of all crimes in August. 

Other crimes listed included Criminal damage and arson with 245 incidents (9%); Public Order with 205 incidents (7%); Other theft with 182 incidents (6%); Shoplifting with 121 incidents (4%); Vehicle Crime with 89 incidents (3%); and burglary with 74 incidents (3%). 

The final crimes listed made up around 4% of the total crimes combined and these are drugs (67 occurrences), ‘other crime’ (34 occurrences), bicycle theft (28 occurrences), possession of weapons (19 occurrences), theft from the person (5 occurrences) and robbery (2 occurrences). 

These crime rates are significantly lower than in the Hampshire Constabulary area where police data shows 16,890 incidents listed, which is nearly six times the number of incidents listed in Wiltshire (3,046).

Map of all crimes listed for Wiltshire 

Here is a map which pinpoints which location each incident included in this summary was reported in.

Each crime type is highlighted in a different colour, to indicate the prevalence of each. 

 

How do these figures compare to crime data from July?

There were 2,850 crimes reported in August compared to 3,046 reported in July, which is a 6% decrease. 

Crimes which have increased in frequency between July and August:
  • Other theft incidents are up 1.2%
  • Shoplifting incidents are up 1.1%
  • Vehicle crime incidents are up 0.5%
  • Burglary incidents are up 0.5%
  • Bicycle theft incidents are up 0.4%
  • Drugs incidents are up 0.4%
  • Possession of weapons incidents are up 0.2%
Crimes which have decreased in frequency between July and August 
  • Criminal damage and arson incidents are down 1.1%
  • Public order incidents are down 1%
  • Violence and sexual offences incidents are down 0.5%
  • Robbery incidents are down 0.3%
  • Theft from the person incidents are down 0.1%

How do these crime figures compare for August over the past three years? 

Overall, comparing data from 2019, 2020 and 2021, there has been a 13% decrease in crime incidents listed for the month of August. 

In August 2019, 3284 incidents of crime were reported, this decreased in August 2020 to 3112 incidents, and then this year August incidents decreased again to 2850 incidents. 

Incidents which have seen a downwards trend between August 2019, 2020, and 2021 are Criminal damage and arson, Robbery, and Shoplifting. 

The possession of weapons and violent and sexual offences have seen an upwards trend. 

In August 2019 there were 14 possessions of weapons incidents, in August 2020 there were 15, and in August this year there were 19 incidents listed.

Sexual offences were also higher in August this year than in previous years, with 912 incidents and 913 incidents reported in August 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Get more Salisbury news. 

You can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date.

If you want online news with fewer ads, unlimited access and reader rewards - plus a chance to support our local journalism - find out more about registering or a digital subscription.

Email newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk with your comments, pictures, letters and news stories.