Mixed results for Hammersmith and Fulham Police in 2009

New crime figures show that overall crime in Hammersmith and Fulham rose in 2009, with worrying leaps in gun and homophobic crimes, and crimes involving domestic violence.

However, there were fewer burglaries and robberies last year than in 2008, and there were also fewer crimes involving violence.

The total number of crimes committed in the borough in 2009 was 23,134, up by over 300 from the 2008 total of 22,786.

Gun crime rose by almost a third from 42 to 59 and domestic crime was up from 1,173 in the previous year to 1,229 in 2009.

One of the largest rises was in homophobic crime. The number of reported crimes almost doubled from 27 to 50. Motor vehicle crime meanwhile showed a small rise, from 2,862 during the previous year to 2,987.

However it wasn't all bad news. There was a big reduction in the number of burglaries, down by over 500 from 2,488 to 1,971.  This drop occurred in both residential burglaries, which were down from 1,861 to 1,420, and non-residential, down from 627 to 551.

There was a smaller reduction in the number of robberies, down from 711 to 695, and in crimes using violence which reduced from 4,920 to 4,811.

Sexual crimes were also reduced, with the number of rapes down from 68 to 57 and other sexual crimes down from 180 to 159. There was also a small drop in racist crime, down from 268 to 253.

The figures also showed that homicide is rare in Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2008 there was just one, and in 2009 there were just two.

The trend in crime in our borough is opposite to London as a whole. Figures for the city show that the overall number of crimes dropped by almost 20,000 in 2009 from 851,721 to 832,439.

Hammersmith and Fulham Police says their recent Key Borough Achievements include:

A recent successful operation to target pick pockets at various locations throughout the borough, which led to several arrests and was welcomed by local businesses.

Operation Fletcher, which has been very successful in targeting and reducing youth violence. Various tactics have been used, including extra officers being on hand at peak times of the day.

February 1, 2010