Crime falls but Nottingham campaigner says too many incidents going unreported

Video: Pythian Club founder Ben Rosser says some crimes goes unreported

A growing trend of violent crime in Nottinghamshire has been halted after figures showed offences have fallen by four per cent.

However one city campaigner claimed he is aware of “one crime a week that doesn’t get reported”, and said more needs to be done to improve trust in police.

The four per cent drop in crime in Notts over a year is the highest fall recorded by any force in England and Wales.

The figures published today cover offences recorded for the 12 months to September 2016.

With a rise in violence across England and Wales, Nottinghamshire Police were the only force to see this type of crime drop, with a two per cent decrease. The force had recorded a rise in violent crime the year before.

However founder of Nottingham Pythian Club, in Basford, Ben Rosser claims this is because of a drop in the amount of crimes reported.

He said: “I’m aware of at least one incident a week that doesn’t go reported, and it could actually be even more.

“I often, once or twice a week, get people coming in, whether it be young people or their families, informing me of incidents that have occurred where they are seeking advice.

“I always say report it to the police however I understand the difficulties that they face in regards to trust and regards to the confidence in reporting some things to the police.

“The types of crime that are happening under the radar range from low-level incidents of anti-social behaviour to theft to criminal damage to actually more extreme and serious crime.”

Police recorded crime offences that have fallen in Nottinghamshire (per cent):

Violence against the person: -2
Violence with injury: -6
Sexual offences: -9
Robbery: -3
Theft offences: -5
Burglary: -3
Domestic burglary: -7
Theft from the person: -13
Bicycle theft: -22
Shoplifting: -6
All other theft offences: -6
Criminal damage by arson: -3
Drug offences: -13

The number of recorded offences in Nottinghamshire totalled 71,032 – 1.8 per cent of all recorded crime in England and Wales.

As a region, the East Midlands has seen the smallest increase of recorded crime with two per cent – a total of 273,615 offences were recorded in the region.

Derbyshire saw no rise in recorded crime, Lincolnshire a small increase of two per cent and Leicestershire slightly more with five per cent.

Northamptonshire saw the biggest rise in the East Midlands, with an eight per cent increase in recorded crime.

Police recorded crime offences in England and Wales and the change between year ending September 2015 and year ending September 2016.

However a number of police forces across England and Wales say rise in recorded offences is a result of an increase in crime being recorded rather than a genuine rise.

A Notts Police spokesman said: “Notts Police is committed to tackling violent crime and it remains one of the force’s key priorities.

“Although the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics for the year ending September 2016 look favourable, we constantly look at data over longer periods and analyse this in great depth to build up a clear picture of the levels and patterns of violent crime.

“Indeed, since the period recorded in the statistics, more recent data to December reveals Nottinghamshire has experienced an increase in recorded violent crime. Current performance is in line with national average.”