Overall crime in Wiltshire has dropped by three per cent, but so has the detection rate, according to latest figures.
Leading the way in the fall in crime has been a 14 per cent reduction in violent offences (6,983 crimes), a 15 per cent drop in criminal damage (7,165 crimes) a 13 per cent fall in drugs offences (1,078 crimes) and a two per cent drop in sex offences (610).
But there were increases of 21 per cent in robbery (308 offences) – of which a proportion involved young people stealing mobile phones from others – and eight per cent in burglary (5,191 offences).
The statistics are for recorded crime for 2010/11 and the force’s detection rate was 25 per cent, below the English average of 27 per cent, and down four per cent on the previous year.
The drop in crime has resulted in Wiltshire being listed as the fifth safest in the country, up from sixth the previous year.
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