THAMES Valley Police’s chief constable has said he is ‘proud’ of the force’s work over the past year, after figures revealed an increase in charges for knife crime and sexual offences.
Speaking to Reading Today, Jason Hogg offered his thoughts on statistics released by the force on Friday, documenting its activity during the previous financial year, April 1, 2022, to March 23, 2023.
Mr Hogg said: “I’m very proud of the job our officers, staff and volunteers do in keeping our communities in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire safe, not only by responding to emergencies but also disrupting and preventing crime across our area.
“The data we’ve published shows the complexity, depth and breadth of the work officers in Thames Valley have done in the last 12 months.
“We’ve had over a million contacts from members of the public in the last year, we’ve deployed to 170,000 incidents and arrested 31,000 people – a third of those were for domestic abuse.
“In addition, we’ve policed some very high profile events, the ones we do every year like Henley Regatta, Royal Ascot and Reading Festival, but also the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen, the coronation concert in Windsor two weeks ago and even the visit of President Zelenskyy at Chequers.
“We’ve had a very, very busy year, but I think we’ve made some really important progress in some priority areas.”
Action on domestic abuse and violence against women and girls has been one such area for TVP, and data shows a 27% increase in formal action in these cases, rising from 3,138 to 3,987.
The force also saw a 52% rise in charges for sexual offences (not including rape) and a 35% rise in stalking and harrassment charges.
There was a small drop in charges brought in rape cases, with the figure falling from 126 to 121. Mr Hogg believes this is because the numbers in question are relatively small, but assured the public the issue is being monitored and scrutinised closely.
“In the past, we have prioritised rape over other sexual offences,” he explained. “But this year, the change we have made by making violence against women and girls, as a whole, a priority, so we have had more officers investigating sexual offence crimes.
“We’ve recently put a dedicated rape team in place to oversee all rape investigations across the Thames Valley. That team is working hand in hand with dedicated specialists within the CPS.
“I’m very confident that those relationships we’ve built will lead to putting more cases to the CPS for early advice.”
Mr Hogg cited the 42% decrease in the homicide cases as the figure he was most proud of. There were 13 murders and one manslaughter in 2022/23, compared to the 21 murders and three manslaughters in the previous year.
Knife crime makes up a large portion of TVP’s violence reduction unit’s work, and has been an important part of the drop in homicides.
During the 2022/23 cycle, 841 knife crime arrests were made.
“We’ve done a lot of work. We’ve done 10,000 patrols of the 67 hotspots which we’ve mapped, not just by using police data, but data we have from local authorities, third sector partners and hospital admissions as well.
“Part of that is being proactive and looking for those individuals who we do know carry knives, but also engaging often with young people when we’re out and about in those locations.”
TVP has officers working in schools who explain the dangers of carrying knives and the police’s role and powers to keep people safe.
“Increased charges for knife crime and sexual offences show how our proactive work targeting these crime types is showing real progress,” Mr Hogg said.
“But behind these numbers are the victims of crime, and a priority for us over the coming year is to place them at the centre of our service and work tirelessly to improve our service to all.
“I would like to see further improvements in relation to tackling violence against women and girls, it’s important that we have sustained improvement with this being a priority going forward.
“And then the second area is our levels of robbery, car crime and burglary are still lower than they were pre-Covid. Those areas are starting to rise slightly, particularly burglary. It’s something I’m really keen to keep an eye on to make sure that doesn’t increase further.”
TVP also covers 197 miles of motorway, more than any other police force in the UK, and it has done a significant amount of work to tackle its ‘fatal four’: drink driving, seatbelt wearing, use of mobile phones and speeding.
This year, the force saw a 17% reduction in deaths on the roads.
