Bury St Edmunds: Crime statistics show creeping rise in reports

According to data provided by Police.uk, crime reports in Bury St Edmunds have risen by 4.3% since 2017.

The total number of recorded crimes in the area shown below rose from 4,468 in 2017, to 4,558 in 2018 and then to 4,662 last year.

This represents a 2 percent rise between 2017 and 2018 and a further 2.3 percent rise in the year that followed.

Despite the fact that these increments are small, if the upward trend were to continue on its current trajectory it would mean that in 10 years we would see an increase of 33.5 percent on the figures from 2017.

The most significant increase has been in the category of violence and sexual offences, with 1,281 crimes recorded in 2017 compared to 1,479 in 2019.

This category also has consistently more crimes recorded than in any other.

The news is not all negative however, with vehicle crime having fallen from 159 recorded incidents to 129 in the last three years.

In that same time frame, criminal damage and arson incidents are down from 534 to 427, with thefts having dropped from 490 to 420.

Although recorded drug offences have risen from 149 to 198, Anti-Social Behaviour incidents have dropped from 852 to 796.

It should be noted that the time frame covered is relatively small, as data is only available from Police.uk dating back three years, but despite that fact, the trend remains a concerning one.