Councillors call for action as New Forest crime figures show 7% annual rise
CRIME in the New Forest increased by just over 7% last year, according to the latest statistics, amid disputed claims of a drugs “epidemic” and anti-social behaviour running “out of control”.
Offences in the district grew from 10,133 recorded cases in 2016/17 to 10,878 in 2017/18, said a report discussed by councillors on Tuesday night.
The annual summary came from the Safer New Forest Partnership, made up of public bodies led by the police, probation, councils, NHS, and fire and rescue service.
The total does not paint the whole picture, however, with fraud and internet crime not included, for example.
Crime reductions included drug offences in the New Forest falling 8% from 185 to 170, and anti-social behaviour down nearly 8% from 3,011 to 2,780.
But at a meeting of New Forest District Council’s community and leisure and scrutiny panel, Pennington councillor Michael White questioned the figures and criticised the police for weak responses.
He claimed the town council had suffered £153,000 in damage, adding: “I am talking about Lymington where anti-social behaviour is completely out of control.
“These figures are only up to April last year but what happened over the summer was seriously concerning. It’s out of control. The resources being allocated to it and police turning up to do something about it is unacceptable.”
The report said drug crimes in Lymington had dropped 29% from 31 to 22.
But Cllr White claimed to have seen dealers arriving from London, adding: “The big problem is drug dealing in the town. It’s become an epidemic.
“I know who the drug dealers are in Pennington. And I am sure the police do too. So why have they not done something about it?”
Hordle Cllr Fran Carpenter added: “There are villages in my area where there is drug crime going on. It gets reported by residents in the recreation ground and nothing seems to happen.”
NFDC service manager Brian Byrne rejected a drug “epidemic” and told the panel there were also no recorded New Forest “county lines” operations, in which city-based dealers use local contacts to sell drugs.
NFDC cabinet member for community affairs, Cllr Di Andrews, insisted the district was a safe place to live and claimed more recent unpublished figures showed crime “going down and we are better off than our neighbours”.
Cllr Steve Clarke, from New Milton, said his town council had invested in youth work and held regular confidential meetings with the police to identify issues. Subsequent action had included locking the town centre toilets at night.
He said: “I think the town and parishes have got to do a little bit of self-help.”
Cllr Clarke called for more attention to cybercrime and described how he had been targeted by a fake blackmail email – a “hidden crime” which he said people were often too embarrassed to report.
Hampshire Constabulary officer numbers have dropped from 3,585 in 2010 to 2,783 this year, alongside a £19m reduction in funding.
Mr Byrne said: “As a district we only get numbers according to recorded crime. The resources are dictated to where the reports are. If you do not have the reports, you will not get the resources from the constabulary.
“I would urge you to get your residents to report them as only then will you get allocated the extra resources.”
The Safer New Forest Partnership plan for 2018/19 identified four priorities: children at risk; modern slavery and human trafficking; drug and alcohol-related harm; and domestic abuse. Councillors requested that internet crime be added to the list.
Responding to the figures, New Forest acting Chief Inspector Scott Beney pointed to successes such as a 64% reduction of theft-from-person to 26, and a 10% reduction in personal robberies, also to 26.
“This shows the hard work we have been doing in our communities to support and protect local businesses,” he said.
He said more recent data running from 1st April 2018 to 8th January this year showed a 1.9% overall reduction in crime.
“Overall, crime is down today compared to 2017/2018, and we hope that reassures those who visit, work and live in the New Forest that we are working hard as a partnership to keep people safer,” he said.
By the numbers
New Forest crime with the biggest percentage growth was possession-of-weapon offences, which the report said went up 70% from 50 to 85. Ch. Insp. Beney said that was due to more weapon deliveries being successfully intercepted in the post.
Arson rose from 42 to 60 (43%); bicycle theft 150 to 212 (41%); and vehicle theft offences 787 to 1,074 (36%).
There was a nearly 7% rise in burglaries from 1,267 to 1,355. The biggest fall in the New Forest was theft-from-person which dropped 64% from 73 cases to 26.
The biggest local jump was in Totton where recorded crimes went up nearly 17% from 2,341 to 2,734.
In New Milton crimes rose nearly 10% from 1,380 to 1,516. Lymington went up 8% from 1,546 to 1,672.
Combined crime in Ringwood and Fordingbridge increased by nearly 4% from 1,901 to 1,971. Hythe’s total rose by 5% from 2,086 to 2,197. The remaining “New Forest Heart” area saw crime barely change from 786 to 788.
