Key crime and force performance statistics 2021
The effect of the pandemic on damping down most crimes now seems to have come to end and it is important to remember the context for the crime figures for 2021/22.
Not only are we seeing a return to normal life post lockdown – and with it the re-emergence of certain crime types – but the numbers are also being compared with unusually low crime statistics creating unusual spikes.
In the 12 months to March 2022 overall crime rose to total of 55,212 – a rise of 12.5% - but due to a spike in certain violent offences the crime harm index (a measurement of crime rates in which crimes are weighted based on how much "harm" they cause) rose by 22.5%.
Some of the increases are also, in part, due to a focus on improving crime recording.
The number of burglaries grew with the number of overall burglaries at 3,159 (a rise of 3.95%) and burglaries of residential properties up to 1,912 (a rise of just 0.2%).
Theft cases overall were up by 12.9%, with a total number of 9,411. Thefts from person grew to 149 (up 27.3%) but thefts from vehicles fell to 1,155 (fall of 1.28%). However, thefts of vehicles increased to 793 – a 31% rise.
Other crimes which reduced during the year were drug offences (down 22.24% to 1,388) and anti-social behaviour (down 34.7% to 15,745).
Arson and criminal damage grew by 12.9% to 6,470 and crimes against society were up by 9.9% to 1,330.
Violent and sexual crimes also experienced a rise year-on-year. Much has been done to encourage the public in reporting sexual crimes and it may be this has had an effect on increased recording of such crimes.
There were 13 homicides in the county – an increase of 8.3% - and violence against the person increased by 15.4% to 22,712. Of these cases violence without injury constituted the majority these cases at 8,759 (24% up). Stalking and harassment cases totalled 7,625 – an increase of 3.5%. Robbery increased by 30.9% to 347 Sexual offences overall increased to 2,467 (a rise of 35.7%) and rape cases increased to 949 (an increase of 29.8%). The force continues to work with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to support victims and in the last three months of 2021 83% of suspects have been charged - the 2nd highest rate in the UK. This has led to a 66% conviction rate at court.
Over the 12-month period the force has, on average per month, issued the following tickets - speed 112, seatbelts 40, mobile phones 35, dangerous driving 44 and drink/drug driving 97.
Op Snap - the new project allowing the public to upload dashcam footage of incidents of dangerous driving - is showing encouraging signs of growing use. In September, for instance, there were 138 submissions compared to just 10 in
February.
Across the year there were 637 mental health detainees dealt with by the force – and dealing with mental health incidents continues to put significant strain on resources.
During the year the force received 139,214 calls for service – a slight dip of 0.75% on the previous 12 months. More than 90% of these were dealt
with within 10 seconds.
This is an excellent result given that call lengths have increased due to the introduction of new processes to get more detailed information at the time of the call.
There has been an encouraging increase in the number of crimes reported online with the 5,841 representing a 37.5% increase.
The Force Urban Response time target for urgent calls is under 15 minutes and over the last 12 months 69.1% of urgent incidents have been attended within this time. The Force Rural Response time target is under 20 minutes and in the last 12 months 66.3% of urgent incidents have been attended within this time.
Lincolnshire Police received 1,038 complaints in the 12 months to March – an increase of 8.7%.