Sexual offence crimes on the rise in Dorset – Office for National Statistics reveals

The official crime statistics for England and Wales in 2019 have been released today.

The Office for National Statistics has revealed that crimes reported in Dorset have increased by 2% since 2018.

Of the 54,000 crimes committed in Dorset, 19,000 were violence based.

The area also saw an 11% rise in sexual-based offences, one of the highest crime increase rates in the country, with over 2,000 cases recorded.

Vehicle offences also saw a significant rise, with 19% more offences happening in the year ending September 2019 compared to the previous year.

Despite this, residential burglaries fell by 5% in the whole of England, also decreasing by 10% in the South West area.

Deputy Chief Constable David Lewis said reacted to the statistics, saying:

“It was expected that we would see a rise in reported crime over this period, in line with the national picture.

However this increase has declined month by month and our most recent figures are showing an overall reduction in crime over the last year.”

“We recognise that, like other forces, increases in some crimes can be attributed to the public having greater confidence in reporting crime, particularly for crimes such as sexual and violent offences, however we do believe that some of the increase is due to a real rise in crime occurring in our communities.”

To see the full list of statistics, go to Office for national statistics’ website and click on year ending September 2019.