New police performance data launched by Home Office today

A new way of viewing police performance has been made available to the public today in the form of the Digital Crime Performance Pack (DCPP). The interactive tool allows people to look at crime data in their area at any time.

The DCPP has been designed to make crime statistics more accessible and will be updated continuously as all police forces will be supplying the data to the Home Office. The Office for National Statistics will still continue to gather crime data and release it on a quarterly basis.

The data on the DCPP shows crime data for all of the 43 police forces in England and Wales in a variety of formats including relative changes in reported crime and also crime rates per population. There are currently three areas of policing covered – homicide, serious violence and neighbourhood crime. The policing topic can be explored in greater detail in some areas. It will show trends in violent crime such as homicide, gun or knife crime, and uses data obtained not only from police records but also partner agencies.

Chief Inspector Dwight Barker, who works in crime analysis at Leicestershire Police said: “This product is another way for the public to obtain information about crime in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and should make it easier for the public to understand crime trends, changes in crime and crime levels. Never before have the public been able to interact with police data in this way and I hope it is a step for greater transparency around how Leicestershire police share that data.  

“Over recent years Leicestershire Police have been focussed on reducing serious violence across the force area and it is great for the communities we serve to be able to see that in these figures.

“Nationally there was an increase in serious violence last year, but here we have managed to achieve a number of reductions. There have been less firearms offences, and less crime involving knives. Even where there has been an increase, such as the 14.9 per cent increase in police recorded violent crime with injury, this can be seen to be considerably lower than the 21.4 per cent average increase experienced nationally.

“What’s great to see, is the use of data outside of the crime we record. NHS data shows a 43 per cent reduction in injuries caused by a sharp object. Again nationally, most other forces are seeing an increase. Where the victim is under 25 our figures are even more positive, with a 57 per cent reduction.

“This tool now displays data in a very visual way, so even in offences such as homicide, where we have a level that can be considered average, the public will be able to see a trend of reduction since December 2021, and a current figure that is one of the lowest over the last five years.

“There are other areas of this product that may raise some queries about performance in Leicestershire and we welcome the increased scrutiny this might bring. The data is interactive, which could mean an individual has the ability to set parameters that produce alarming figures. We will be happy to try and explain our understanding of the trends underlying these figures but it is important that users of this system do look at the variety of data that it can produce. This is particularly true when looking at percentage changes. The part of the country that has had the largest increase in robbery figures still has the lowest rate for that crime in the country.

“For Leicestershire Police, we have experienced a huge decrease in neighbourhood crime compared to 2019. With the increased periods of lock-down restrictions for many areas of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland the reductions in acquisitive crime were more significant than many other areas of the country and lasted for longer. Following the return to more normal living conditions post pandemic, these crimes have gradually increased but are still much lower than they were before.

“I would hate for residents to feel concerned because this data shows more neighbourhood crime in 2022 than there was in 2021, when the reality is you are much less likely to be a victim of this type of crime than you were in 2019. In addition, for the last few years we have improved our recording practices significantly which has also had an impact on these figures, making sure all crime is captured but therefore we have seen a steady increase in the volume of crime we record.

“That being said, we also recognise that these neighbourhood crimes can have a huge impact on the lives of the victims and we continue to work with our partners to reduce these numbers further.”

The DCPP can be accessed using the following link: HMICFRS website