Bristol crime is on the rise in some offences, and is still a big problem when compared to the national averages
While crime in Bristol may seem to be on the rise for some offences, there are some areas where the crime has actually improved. Compared to the national average however, the rise of crime in Bristol is a growing concern.
When it comes to violence against the person crimes, it appears that this type of crime has been falling over the last three years. The reported figures for violence against the person crimes reached its high in 2005/2006 with a count of 13,372. Since then these crimes have decreased each year reporting 12,746 in 2006/2007, 11,592 in 2007/2008, and now for 2008/2009 a total of only 10,975. Although the average rate in this area of crime is well above the national average of 15 percent, being 26.4 percent in Bristol, the occurrences of these crimes has diminished in number over the last 3 to 4 years.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the number of sexual offences. With the number of this type of crime being reported at 744 for 2008/2009 the crime of sexual offence in Bristol has to be a major concern. This is the highest number reported of this type of crime since 2004/2005 when the figure at that time was a whopping 819, only beaten by the previous year's total of 875. Considering sexual offences in Bristol were a record low over the last 7 years at only 608 in 2007/2008, the rise in this type of offence has to have citizens as well as those enforcing the law concerned.
Robberies are also a growing problem in the Bristol community rising to 1529 in 08/09, up from 1371 the previous year. This is the highest reported since 05/06 when there were 1531 reported robberies. The somewhat related crime of burglary did decrease however, down from 8723 in 07/08 to 8575 in 08/09. This crime is still 2.7 percent above the national average of 1 percent however, being recorded at 3.7.
Theft of motor vehicles and theft from other offences have pretty much stayed the same over the last 6-7 years, however the percentage of these crimes in Bristol is two times greater than the national average, which is another cause for concern.
