Crime in Cornwall - how does your town fare? - Cornwall Live

According to figures released earlier this year by the Office for National Statistics, more than 22,000 crimes were reported in Cornwall alone in 2016 - with just a quarter resulting in convictions and up by just over 1,000 from the previous year.

Devon and Cornwall Police have urged people not to panic and said the force area reports the third lowest crime rate in England and Wales.

This month, starting on Monday, we're going to focus the microscope on towns around Cornwall, looking at crime rates, what sorts of offences are happening and where they are happening.

Reflecting on the 2016 figures for the county as a whole, Deputy Chief Constable James Vaughan suggested that the fact the local people had so much confidence in police meant they were keen to report crimes - which was reflected in buoyant figures.

He said: "Crime figures only represent a small part of what we as a force actually do; around 80% of our business is non-crime related.

Police recorded more than 22,000 crimes in Cornwall last year

"We have one of the highest levels of public confidence of any force across the country, and this means that people feel supported and confident that we will take their crime seriously.

"The upshot of this confidence from our public, is that we will see a rise in the reporting of certain crime types.

"According to Crime Survey in England and Wales, the perceived risk of becoming a victim of crime (both household and personal) remains low, with Devon and Cornwall being the fifth lowest in the country. This reflects that residents feel safe in our area."

The figures, released at the end of April, show there were spikes in the number of sex offences, which was up by a quarter.

Police said that there had been a rise in the reporting of this types of crime both of offences committed recently and in the past.

Violent crimes were up from 3,199 in 2016 to 3,715 last year - although this is still a massive increase from 2009 when just 1,322 were reported.
Public order offences were up to 1,110 from 972 the previous year while burglary was also on the increase, from 629 in 2015 to 697 last year.
The number of vehicle offences has fallen dramatically since 2009, down from 1,895 to 962.
Meanwhile shoplifting has broadly increased, from 1,314 in 2009 to 1,805 in 2016.
Overall, the number of crimes in Cornwall has gone up from 20,473 in 2009 to 22,882 in 2016.

Mr Vaughan said new crimes recorded this year for the first time which account for more than half of this increase.

"There have been a number of new laws introduced which will see a rise in crime figures for all forces across the country, not just in Devon and Cornwall," he said.

"An example of this is the introduction of the Malicious Communications Act.

"Examples of new crimes that fall within this act include harassment, abusive and threatening messages sent via social media, phone calls that the victim perceives as threatening in their nature, and even an abusive note left on the windshield of a car for parking in front of someone's house."

Mr Vaughan said police worked hard with victims of crime and to protect and serve the public of Devon and Cornwall to ensure it was a "safe place to live, work, and visit."

According to figures released by police, these are the three most dangerous areas to live in Cornwall

1. St Austell town

St Austell topped the unenviable league with a total of 1,456 recorded crimes - 300 more than the nearest rival and over double the number of the community in third place.

St Austell town centre

Sandra Heyward, Cornwall Councillor for St Austell, earlier this year defended her home town and said the figures should be put into the context of having a big population.

She said that campaigns actively encouraged people to report crime and that councillors, police and community groups worked hard to combat crime.

There were a total of 1,456 crimes recorded in this policing area last year, a rise from 1,416 the previous year, which is exactly the average rise for the whole of the Devon and Cornwall force area.

Burglary is of concern in St Austell where the number of times a house was broken into rocketed from 44 to 73 in a year - a rise of 65%.

The number of crimes involving violence causing an injury was down from 201 to 197 between 2015 and 2016 and though there were 16 rapes in 2016, this was a reduction from the previous year.

2. Newquay town

The holiday hotspot of Newquay town was the second most crime ridden place in Cornwall, reporting a total of 1,104 incidents in 2016, up 12% from 986 the previous year.

It was the place with Cornwall's most recorded rapes 20 in 2016 up a staggering 122% from 9 the previous year.

There were 172 instances of violence causing injury, down from 208 in 2015.

There were 72 crimes involving possession of drugs, up from 58, or 24%, from the previous year.

3. Truro Boscawen

This part of Truro saw an 8% rise in crime between 2015 and 2016, including a 26% rise in public order offences, a 90% rise in vehicle offences and a 300% in rape - from one recorded the previous year to four recorded in 2016.

These are the three safest places to be in Cornwall

1. Treliske Hospital

Treliske Hospital, the main site of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust in Truro, which is so large it qualifies as its own policing area, recorded the county's fewest crimes.

There were just 62 crimes in 2016, the biggest proportion of which were theft. There were also 16 crimes of violence no involving injury, two vehicle offences, seven cases of criminal damage and three of possessing drugs.

2. Rural Launceston

The second safest place in Cornwall was the rural beat on the outskirts of Launceston where 97 crimes were recorded in 2016 - a 6% drop from 104 the previous year.

Of this relatively low total, some 35 involved violence and 16 criminal damage. There was one rape and nine vehicle offences, an increase of 800% on the single incident of vehicle crime recorded the previous year.

3. The Isles of Scilly

The Isles of Scilly has for a long time been regarded as blissfully crime-free, but the latest figures show that it is not the case.

There were 108 crimes last year on the islands, a reduction of 10% from the previous year but still a large number for a population of just over 2,000 - although the figures also include crimes committed by visitors.