Police keep crime secret

8:17am Monday 8th September 2008

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You are only told about three crimes for every 1,000 the police are called about, we can reveal.

A four-week study this summer showed police released information or appealed for witnesses 22 times when they were called 6,636 times about crime - 0.3 per cent.

The investigation, using the Freedom of Information Act, showed there were reports of 49 robberies, 41 sexual offences, 310 burglaries and 452 violent incidents.

But when we asked for details, Thames Valley Police refused to give any further information.

Residents and victims of crime called for more openness, saying people should be told what is happening on their streets.

Thames Valley Chief Constable Sara Thornton and her deputy Alex Marshall refused to speak to us about why only a fraction of crimes were revealed to the public.

But Chief Supt Brendan O'Dowda, the Oxfordshire police commander, defended the force's policy, saying it also gave information to neighbourhood action, parish and other groups, community meetings and policing boards. He added some victims did not want their crimes released.

He said: "This very low figure does not represent the real interface and consultation we have with the public.

"From September, crime statistics for individual neighbourhoods will start to appear on our website and work is in hand to produce local crime maps at a neighbourhood level. The hope is, that by providing people with more information they can form their own opinions about crime in their area.

"I would like to balance making appeals for witnesses through the media with instilling an unnecessary fear of crime within our community - publicising reams of low-level crime would serve very little purpose."

The list of crimes obtained by us showed every report made in Oxfordshire between July 1 and July 28 by date, town and crime category.

During the same period, Thames Valley Police's website made appeals for two attempted robberies, one rogue trader incident, three thefts, four burglaries, six assaults and a rape.

Between July 15 and July 24, the only crime the general public was told about was an appeal for witnesses after a teenager's foot was run over by a car in Oxford.

Not all of these calls will be recorded as a crime by police. On average there were 2,005 crimes recorded in Oxfordshire in 2007-08 according to police statistics - still equating to just over one crime in 100 being made public.

David Troth, 45, of Deer Walk, Blackbird Leys, contacted the Oxford Mail after nine robberies in Gillians Park between July 9 and August 10.

It took police five days after the final incident to make a public appeal.

He said: "Young kids were getting mugged and after a couple you would have thought they would make it public. But they didn't and it happened to another five or six young ones. The information is there to help the public and the public can help the police."

Jimmy Hayes, 68, of Windale Avenue, Blackbird Leys, suffered four burglaries in as many years and had his fence vandalised dozens of times.

He said: "People should know what has been happening in their area. In my case I think it would help."

Two years ago, pensioner Phil Cuddity, 71, found a knife in Bury Knowle Park, but police would not let him hand it in.

He said: "They should tell us everything. It doesn't matter how big or small."

Oxfordshire's MPs have raised concern about the small number of crimes in the county the public is told about.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said he hoped police would review their strategy, and called for a meeting with senior officers in light of the investigation.

He added: "We all have a shared responsibility as a community to combat crime, and if the public is to do all it can to help, it needs to know where and when information is needed."

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Dr Evan Harris said: "While the police may claim that there is a balance to be struck between publicity, raising fears and diluting the message, the very low proportion of crimes that are formally publicised - whether to seek help or to warn the public - suggests that the police need to look carefully at current practice."

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey said: "With new technology, police should be thinking about imaginative ways of getting the public involved in helping the fight against crime - and that would include as much transparency as possible about which type of crime is happening and where."

John Howell, Henley MP, said: "We need to strike a balance between instilling a fear of crime against reporting crimes for which people can take action."

North Oxfordshire MP Tony Baldry and Witney MP David Cameron were unavailable for comment.